Percy Jackson & The Lost Goddess
by Huntress Of The Sea
Summary: Set after PJO and HoO. The giants are defeated. Once again Gaea is sleeping. Percy Jackson has finally finished high school. The Greeks and Romans have reached a truce. Everyone is expecting peace. Until the arrival of a mysterious girl brings confusion. She's special, different, oddly talented - and powerful. Huge secrets are threatened by her. Ones the gods have kept for years.
1. Prolouge

**A/N: Okay, so since my beta reader for this is very unpredictable and likes to disappear (don't pretend – you know who you are!) I have decided to start reposting this. So you'll get the . . . first and a half draft I guess. I did some major edits in the time I left this book, and I made things flow better with SoN's release. You know, sometimes I feel almost embarrassed this is my writing and that it's shoddy; then other times I feel incredibly proud of it. So I am restarting this, going to repost over the chapters I've done; pretty much until it's more than fourteen chapters it won't really be "new". I didn't want to do this – but I was given no choice!**

The dim light in the temple reflected the mood of the beings within. Every single one had appeared for this event. In the centre of them all, a girl lay asleep on a pallet. Her face pained and worried. As if she knew what was about to happen.

A man knelt next to her. His face was an expressionless mask of pain. His sea green eyes were betraying his every emotion. He cradled her hands in his, as a tear slid down his cheek. All there felt his pain, none wished this to happen. None of it had worked out like they had hoped. Everything was wrong; they didn't want this. The man turned to one behind him.

This man had an aura that was the only source of light in the room. He eyes were sad, but knowing. The man kneeling drew several breaths.

"Is this truly the only way? Surely there must be another," he asked. The second man shook his head slowly.

"No, this is the only way. The Spirit of Delphi is waiting to announce her prophecy. Now is the time. Soon it will be too late," he proclaimed in a solemn tone. The first man sighed. He turned back to the girl. She moaned and cried out in fright. The man stroked her face lovingly. He had tried to protect her. But now he must give her up. He had done this before, years ago. But he did not want to do this now.

"It is the only way. May the Fates guide you, my child," he said softly. He slowly stood up and took a step back. He drew a slow, deep breath. "Now, Mnemosyne, before I change my mind."

From the shadows emerged the age-old Titaness. Her face looked familiar to all who looked upon her. Her robes were shifting through clothes from the ages. She walked over to the girl, who cried out again. But Hypnos' grip of sleep was too great for her to wake.

"Wait," said a youth, stepping forth. She knelt down to the girl and kissed her forehead. A faint silver mark glowed then faded. "So she may not loose herself." She murmured stepping back with the others.

The first man nodded to Mnemosyne. The Titaness sat at the girl's head. Placing her hands on the girl's temples, she chanted under her breath. Seldom few of those present understood what she said as she spoke in the language of magic.

Slowly the girl on the pallet stopped moving. Her face going slack, empty of all emotion. Beneath her shirt, a faint glow pulsed for a second. Then faded as if it never was. Perhaps it was an effect of the magic. None knew. The girl's breathing evened out and Mnemosyne stepped away. Slowly fading back into the shadows.

"How long?" the man breathed, tears trickling down his face. It was too late to turn back. "How long until she wakes?"

"In nigh on three days she shall wake. No sooner, no later," came Mnemosyne's voice, wrapping the air in sheets of lead. All released a breath they had been holding.

"She shall not be moved until the time is almost up. She will not leave us before then," the man whispered. The others murmured their agreements.

All slowly disappeared from the temple. The man was the last to leave. His face full of sadness. But eventually he left. Leaving the girl alone. All alone.

* * *

The boy sighed and stared out his bedroom window. He had a strange feeling deep in his gut. The light of the full moon shone brightly in, illuminating his face. Slowly, as the clock in the hall chimed midnight, the liquid moonlight dull. Fading into nothing but a dull grey light.

As the moonlight faded, the loud cry of an owl came through the window. Quickly followed by the sound of waves pounding the beach like artillery. Thunder rumbled above, the starlight dimmed, a moan sounded like a spirit of the dead. More strange noised rose from up in the night.

The boy sighed again. He couldn't sleep; the day had brought on much. Earlier, as his school day had ended; he had heard sounds as well. The crackle of a fire, the sound of a striking hammer, and the calls of many birds. His day had been filled with confusion.

He layed further down in his bed, closing his eyes. He had two more days, and then the nightmare called high school would be over. Two more days, and he successfully would have gone for four years at the same school. A record for him. Especially considering certain events.

He slowly started drifting into sleep. A feeling in his gut, that something had changed. Something extreme. But what did it matter? He didn't rule the world; he'd have to let the Fates do that. What had changed, was their choice. Not his.

He fell asleep. His dreams full of confusion. Tropical storms, forest fires. So much, he couldn't even describe it. It went on and on, until it was shattered by his alarm clock. Groaning, he shuffled from his room to his kitchen.

"Morning," a woman said turning around. She frowned when she saw him. "You look terrible. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just some dreams. That's all," the boy mumbled.

The woman said nothing but looked at him with concern. The boy ate his breakfast, and then returned to his room to get ready. Two more days, then it'd be over. Two more, then his troubles would be gone.

This went through his head as he prepared. He thought this was true. But his gut said otherwise. Why listen to your gut though? It never told the truth. Soon it would all be set right . . . soon everything from the night before disappeared from his mind. All forgotten.


	2. My Life Hits Restart

?: My life hits restart

I blinked open my eyes to perfect, clear blue sky. I was lying down somewhere. I sat up groggily and looked around. I was lying at the base of a hill, at the top was a huge pine tree, and wrapped around the base was . . . a large purple mass. It looked a bit like coils. I couldn't quite tell from where I was.

I stared harder at my surroundings; I was beside a desolate dirt road. Where was I? I had no idea where I was. Wait a second . . . I . . . I couldn't think of anything. I racked my brain harder, I couldn't remember anything. I couldn't think of my name.

That wasn't good. What had happened, I didn't know anything! _Okay, calm down, _said something inside of me. But I still started panicking, where was I? Who was I?

Next I knew, there was a horrible wailing from across the road. I shot to my feet and stared towards the direction of the sound. What the heck had that been? I shivered, my heart started racing. Something was wrong. Suddenly this green-snake-woman thing bolted towards me.

Then she was on me. There was a dagger in my hand. Where had that come from? The woman thing flew at me, I screamed. Her face was just inches from mine; horribly scaly and green, with fangs. My hand moved forward on its own accord. I pushed hard in to the creature and twisted with all my might.

_Dracaena, _the word flashed in my mind. The word sent a tingling down my spine. Slowly the creature dissipated into nothing but gold dust. I started shaking and let go of the dagger. It fell to the ground, where it glittered against the grass under the sunlight.

What had I just done? Where had that dagger even come from? What had that thing been? There were too many questions suddenly running through my head. None had answer. And I really wanted some answers.

I heard voices from behind me. Whirling around I saw people on top of that hill with the pine tree and cables. A few had bows, most had swords, and one had a spear. Who were they? They were all staring at me, and behind me. They started running downhill towards me. I stepped backwards. I didn't like people charging at me with weapons.

Then I heard noises behind me. Great, being charged from two fronts. This was just getting better and better, especially considering I had no clue who I was. Then I realized that the people from the hill were probably after whatever was behind me. I turned around. I really shouldn't have done that.

There were . . . a lot of monsters, for a lack of better words. There were about a dozen of those snake-woman things. As well as giant dragon-serpent creature. And it was about as tall as a two story building.

I froze at the sight of it all. I wanted to scream, I wanted to run, I couldn't though. There were so many. Even with the people coming behind me, I couldn't even muster the strength to move.

Then the warriors behind me were around me. Charging the creatures across from me. There was pure chaos all around me. Monsters were disintegrating, some of those people getting hurt and thrown around. I could see that the people from the hill were loosely forming a ring around me. Oh great, trying to protect the amnesiac - I really was starting to hate what little of my life there was.

The giant thing was suddenly looming over top of everything. It shot . . . something at me. I knew it was aimed for me, but it was strange. I couldn't actually _see _what it shot, but I knew it had shot something. Like it was invisible.

I dropped to the ground. I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my hands over my ears to block out the noise.

_Good gods! This is a miserable way to die! _I screamed in my head. Gods . . . where had that come from? It set my mind on fire. This couldn't be happening.

Suddenly the whole air seemed to vibrate with living energy. It tingled and swirled, then exploded outwards. A force so shattering, I managed to hear the screams and cries, despite my hands.

The life and energy seemed to drain out of me. I open my eyes and removed my hands. I looked around. Nothing. Just those people, looking just about as confused as I was. No weird creatures, nothing. Well, that certainly was odd.

"What just happened?" someone asked. Shakily I stood up. All heads turned towards me. I blankly looked around. Who were these people? And where on earth was I?

My head reeled, I felt strangely hollow. As if there was nothing in me. What _had _happened? That giant thing couldn't have disappeared so suddenly, could it?

The crowd parted in front of me. Two people walked towards me. They looked like they were around 19 or 20. The girl had curly blond hair, and stormy grey eyes. The boy, he sent a jolt through me. He had black hair and green eyes. But he - he almost seemed to be . . . glowing. He almost looked like to me he was glowing. I felt sick.

They walked up to me; I took a small half-step back. Who were they? I felt like I should know them. Especially whoever that guy was.

"I'm Annabeth," the girl said. Her gaze almost seemed to look inside and analyze me. Something about it was familiar.

"My name's Percy," the boy said, "who are you?"

I stared at them. Percy . . . that named set my body a-fire with energy. I had heard it before. I wanted to reply that I didn't know. I couldn't manage to open my mouth. Slowly, the world around me dimmed into total darkness.


	3. A Not So Easy Summer After All

Percy: A Not So Easy Summer After All

The summer after high school graduation, this sort of thing had not been on my agenda. Going to camp – check. Spending time with Annabeth – check. Fighting some monsters – check. Fighting a Drakon and finding a mysterious girl – check. But that I hadn't been planning on the last one.

Now, don't get me wrong, helping a fellow demigod and fighting a Drakon is a thing I like to do. But this clearly wasn't an ordinary girl.

She was about 15 or 16. She was skinny, but she didn't look weak, she actually looked pretty strong; like a gymnast. She had deathly pale skin and pale pink lips. Her hair . . . where to start? It was unlike any sort of colour that even mortals could come up with. It looked like it was made of pure fire or something. But it was streaked with a glittering blue.

She was also wearing a slightly unusual outfit. A light blue tee-shirt, with an army green jacket that had multiple snap pockets rolled up to the elbows on top. Attached to her grey caprices' was a belt sporting a pouch on one side, and an empty sheath for a dagger on the other.

So, we had a passed out girl that was far from normal. We did the obvious thing: pick her up and take her to the Big House. Now, the Big House is this 4-story farm house painted bright baby blue with white trim and a bronze weather vane on top.

As me and Annabeth carried her there, we were discussing what had happened during the fight. Annabeth had the idea that it had something to do with the girl. I wasn't so sure. But I was a little ticked that she was about 15 and had only just arrived. See, about 3 years ago, after the second titan war, I had made the gods promise to claim all their demigod children by the age of thirteen. So far, they had been keeping their promise. Mostly.

Anyway, when we got to the big house, Chiron was playing pinochle on the porch. He was in wheelchair form, and was playing against three invisible players (Mr. D had disappeared that morning for an unknown reason). His beard was freshly trimmed and he wore his tweed jacket.

As we walked up to Chiron he noticed us and the look on his face wasn't the most comforting. He looked about as confused as us. Not even shocked or nervous. He put down his hand of cards and motioned for us to place the girl in one of the chairs. We placed her in the chair directly across from him and took the two remaining.

"Now," Chiron said, "tell me what happened. And who is this young lady?"

I glanced uncomfortably at Annabeth, "That's just the thing Chiron. We don't know. She fainted before she could say anything. We're thinking she was the one we heard scream." There wasn't much more to say then that. Well, there was Annabeth's theory. I know Annabeth is a lot smarter than me, but the idea was still a little strange.

"Well Chiron," Annabeth started, "there was something extremely odd that happened. See, we were all fighting the Dracaena and me and Percy were fighting the Drakon. We were all around the girl, when the air started to . . . swirl. It was almost alive with energy. Then the force exploded, and the monsters disappeared as soon as the energy-thing hit them. We were all safe, but even the Drakon had vanished. The energy seemed to have come from the girl."

Well, that's Annabeth for you. It did make sense, but I still had my doubts. It was an untrained girl, well; she had wound up at the base of Half-Blood Hill alone. But for all I knew, she could have run away and received a message from a god. Chiron turned to me, clearly expecting me to say something. I was saved when Grover ran up with Juniper in tow.

"Percy! What happened? I heard the commotion, and I could smell that girl from Juniper's tree! She has the most powerful scent I've ever encountered!" Grover exclaimed in a rush, like he always does when he's excited. Oh, by the way, Grover is my best friend, the Lord of the Wild, and a satyr.

"You should have seen him when he noticed," Juniper chimed in, "he had no idea what was happening. He used to say you had the most powerful scent. I guess this means things are pretty serious."

I nodded; I wasn't too surprised by what she said. But the fact she had a strong scent . . . that never meant anything good. You could ask just about anyone.

"So, who is she?" Grover asked. We all shrugged.

"No idea," I told him. His face got that sort of pleading look, the kind he gives me when he knows I'm holding back information. Unfortunally, this time it was the truth.

"Grover, she passed out before she could say anything," Annabeth said. Grover's face suddenly lit up like he got an idea. "No," Annabeth cut him off, "I don't think playing your reed pipes would do much help. It wouldn't even work anyways."

"But, the question remains," Chiron broke in, "we don't know who she is. And the fact she seems to be quite powerful does not help the situation. I believe we should take her to a room in the Big House until she regains consciousness. Once she heals we can get to the bottom of this."

We all nodded dutifully, no sense in arguing with Chiron. He had practically seen it all; he would know what was best.

A rustling interrupted us. We all looked over and saw the girl beginning to stir. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment; they were sea green, like mine. She closed them again. It took her a minute before she finally opened then properly.


	4. My Weird 5 Minute Life Gets Weirder

?: My Weird 5-minute Life Gets Weirder

I opened my eyes to find myself sitting in a chair. Okay, how had I gotten here? Sitting across a table from me was a man with short curly brown hair and a trimmed beard in what I think was a wheel chair. The table blocked my view. On the two ends of the table were those two people who had come up to me before. What were their names . . . Right, Annabeth and Percy. Percy, I swear he was glowing! I must have been hallucinating.

Standing behind them was another boy; he looked maybe a year younger. He had curly light reddish brown hair, and a small beard/goatee (really classy, I know). Wait a second . . . he had horns! He had horns that stuck a few inches above his head. But that wasn't the only weird thing. He had goat legs. Okay, that was already a major tip this was definitely not a normal sort of place. And strangely, I felt like that wasn't odd. But it was! . . . Right?

Beside the goat man was a girl. She was dressed in a classic green robe. She had pretty, elfish features, with light green eyes and wispy amber hair. Was it just me or did her hair and skin has a greenish tinge to it?

I took this all in a second. So, life as an amnesiac and people were talking while I was unconscious. Lovely.

"My dear," said the man across from me, "I'm glad to see you are awake. How are you feeling?" I blinked, stranger being nice to me . . . either a nice guy, or a creepy one. I was hoping for the first option.

"Who . . ." I started, my voice faint and cracking, "who are you? Where am I? What's going on?" The man smiled sadly at me.

"Forgive me. I should introduce everyone. I believe you've already met Annabeth Chase, and Percy Jackson." I nodded. The guy Percy . . . when he said his name my spine tingled. What was that about? "These two," he gestured to the people behind him, "are Grover Underwood and Juniper. My name is Chiron. You are at Camp Half-Blood."

Chiron . . . Camp Half-Blood . . . those names made me feel like I had been zapped. What was happening? I felt like I should know this or at least recognize the words . But I didn't, that was the problem.

"Camp Half-Blood?" I said fuzzily. "What is that?"

"Ah, I see you get right too it. Camp Half-Blood is a special training camp for demigods."

He was about to say more. But the second he said demigod I jumped like I had been struck. Everyone stared at me. I couldn't help but feel self-conscious. Not like it was my fault all this was happening.

"Um," I started, eager to move on from me jumping, "what's a demigod?"

Chiron gave a wry smile, "A demigod is a child of a god. A mortal and a god to be exact. You do know about the gods. Am I right?"

"Um," I blinked, "I . . . don't really."

"Ah, I see," Chiron said disappointed, "I believe I should let Annabeth explain that. She is more apt at explaining things."

"Okay," started Annabeth. Oh, this wasn't going to help me. "So, when we say gods, we mean the Greek gods. Not the Romans since . . . well, I'm not going there. Anyway, the gods are pretty much the same as they were in ancient time, no disrespect intended. And they still have kids with mortals. And those kids are us. Half god, half mortal. Demigods. There are the minor gods, like Hecate, Hypnos, Iris, and so on, there are a lot. Then there are the gods on the council; Athena, Dionysus, Ares, Hermes, Demeter, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hera, Artemis, Apollo, Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon. The last three are known as the Big Three. Does that help?"

I just stared blankly at her. Gods . . . well, that did explain the crazy thought earlier. Something about what she said was familiar. But aside from that, that wasn't much help. Still, when she said the names of the gods . . . I felt like my body was going to explode. A tingling everywhere, and the more names she said the worse it got. Though it still didn't help me. Not at all.

"That didn't help? Oh dear, how old are you? You should have learnt this in school. And what's your name?" The wheelchair man was puzzled.

"Uh . . . about that . . ." this was going to be even more awkward. "Well, I don't know . . ."

They all frowned at me. Clearly troubled, something told me that they had been down this road before.

Chiron stood up. This is where it got freaky. Instead of standing, he rose up. He had what I thought were human legs with some kind of white underwear, but they weren't - they were a horse's! Then I realized the chair wasn't actually a chair. It was some strange empty box. He stepped out of the box, heavy hooves hitting the porch. His entire lower half was a pure white stallion!

That didn't even faze me. I felt like I had seen much weirder. Anyway, getting off track. He motioned for all of us to follow him inside. We stood up, after momentarily getting dizzy from me, and followed him. This couldn't be good; a _lot _of things wouldn't be good today.

I was prepared to have a much, much more complicated day.


	5. Things Aren't Calmed Down After All

Percy: Things Aren't Calmed Down After All

I couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl as we followed Chiron into the Big House. I still remember how I felt 3 and a half years ago when I was in her place. It was last summer when the Children of the Prophecy defeated Gaea. But I still knew how she felt. Waking up and not even knowing your name or where you are, is scary. I've been there, I wouldn't recount it now. But I knew the feeling.

Anyway, back to the problem of the girl who doesn't know her name, or age, or anything. She was pretty, nowhere near as beautiful as Annabeth (She would kill me if I said otherwise, but it is true) but still kind of pretty with a self-confident look in her eyes. Although that look wasn't exactly prominent right then.

She looked pretty confused by all this, and scared. Chiron brought us into the main sitting room, the one with the masks, vines, the leopard head from Mr. D. I still wish he would turn it back into an inanimate object, no such luck though.

"Sit down all of you," Chiron invited. Me, Annabeth, Grover, and Juniper all took chairs. The leopard was asleep. The girl stood for a minute, then took the last remaining chair. She looked extremely nervous. She probably thought she was going to get yelled at or something.

"Now," Annabeth said, "we should get down to business. So you really don't know who you are or anything?" She stared at the girl with that calculating gaze all children of Athena have. The girl held her gaze, no small feat.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

"Now child," Chiron began, "do you feel like you ought to know something, or is it like nothing was ever there?"

She hesitated; I could see she was trying to figure out if she could trust us. "I - I feel like I should be knowing all this. But I don't. I just want to know what's happening. And what happened at the base of that hill?"

I felt really sorry for her, I wish I could've comforted her, but I still hadn't figured out how.

"What happened . . . well, that's rather hard to explain," Chiron mused.

"It was you!" Grover blurted out.

"What?" she whispered.

"It was your scent! You attracted the monsters! That's why they appeared so quickly!" Grover was getting a little excited now.

"Scent? Monsters? What?" she asked.

Chiron sighed, "Grover here is a satyr. They can smell half-bloods, which is another name for demigods, and they can smell monsters."

She gave a small nod. But it was clear she was completely lost. Annabeth caught my eye, I looked at her, and I knew what she was thinking. One thing could maybe comfort her . . . but on the other hand is might make her feel worse. Since it was all caused by unfortunate events. Apparently Chiron still reads Annabeth's thoughts, because he nodded in my direction.

I took a deep breath before attempting, "Look, don't worry, uh, it'll be okay. Everything will turn out fine." Yes, it sounded lame, but hey, I was a little nervous, I hadn't ever had to reassure someone like this before. Not exactly something you'd expect to do.

"How could you say that?" she exclaimed. Hmm, looks like she might have some anger issues . . . "I don't know anything!"

I sighed, "Well . . . I lost my memory before." She stared at me. Well, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.

"How did that happen?" she asked. I groaned inwardly, now she was interested. Annabeth smirked at me, oh she loved this.

"Well . . . let's just say, Hera, decided to 'help' a prophecy. Which really screwed up things . . . a lot." I didn't mention I lost eight months of my life. Or that it took drinking gorgon's blood to get it back. The girl raised an eyebrow at me. Chiron cleared his throat. Thankfully turning the attention away from me.

"Back to the matter at hand. Are you sure there is nothing you can remember? Even Jason -"

"Who?"

"I'll explain later. As I was saying, before, when people have lost their memory, normally they still had something to help them out. You haven't had anything like that have you?"

The girl's eyes widened. I guessed that had been happening to her, and she was probably trying to figure out how much too say.

"Well, sometimes when you've said things . . . I sort of get a tingling . . ." she mumbled. I remember that sort of feeling, like you know something but its not there. It's really annoying.

"Tingling?" asked Chiron, "when?"

"Well . . . when you said demigod for one . . ." she replied shifting uncomfortably.

"Any other times?" Chiron pressed.

"Um . . . when I first woke up and that thing attacked . . . I thought of a name . . . but, I don't know if that's the same thing," she said.

She looked _really _nervous. I could tell she probably wasn't going to say any more. Her hand went up to her throat, almost as if she expected something to be there. It was some sort of instinct, or whatever you would call it. Her eyes widened suddenly.

She pulled something out from under her shirt. It was a necklace, with a long flexible leather cord that had a thin golden chain wrapped around it widely. It fell down at least partway down her torso. At the bottom was a shiny golden disk that fit snugly into the centre of her palm. She stared at the pendent in her hand.

"What is that?" Chiron frowned.

"I'm not sure," she murmured, "it says something . . ."

Annabeth piped up at that point, "I know what that is! It's known as a Soul Key! And I mean the real ones – unlike the ones from the Middle East. Not many people have them, only great heroes, or godlings. They are used to identify people, they're said to hold a small part of whomever there for's _animus_ in them. As well as engravings dealing with the past."

"Thanks Wise Girl, I know you're trying to help, but history lesson – not needed," I muttered. Yeah, I know, rude. But I never got one, and I lost my memory and helped to saved the world, twice.

The girl said something none of us could make out. When Chiron asked her to repeat it, she looked up kind of startled; almost as if she forgot where she was.

"It – it says Cora," she told us. "I – I think that's my name."

"It does make sense," Annabeth mused.

"Yes, well, until we can find out more, I'm afraid we have reached the end of our conversation. Annabeth, Percy, you two will show her around camp. Grover, I believe earlier some satyrs were looking for you. You may want to go find them," Chiron instructed. I nearly groaned, I'm not good at the whole introduction-to-camp thing.

Since it's pointless to argue with Chiron, we all nodded in agreement. Grover wandered off somewhere, followed by Juniper. Me and Annabeth stood up, the girl, I guess now I have to call her Cora, followed us quietly as we led her out to camp.

Something about Cora was going to set things into turmoil again; this wasn't going to be the calm summer like I hoped.


	6. Wait, I Can Do What?

Cora: Wait, I Can Do What?

As I followed Annabeth and Percy out of . . . wherever we were, my eyes never left the necklace that I wore. What had Annabeth called it? A Soul Key? Yes, a Soul Key, so what, it would suddenly jog my memory? Unlikely.

So I was given a tour. And I had to admit, this Camp was pretty amazing. They were telling me about it as they led me to the Commons, which is the field in the centre of all the cabins about the size of a soccer field. The cabins created a complete rectangle; there were a lot of cabins. Only two were empty, some goddesses didn't have kids, so they were honorary. That's what I was told in any case.

My first visit to see the Commons could have been more pleasant. Annabeth and Percy did warn me about Clarisse la Rue, but there was no hiding from that girl. She looked like a professional wrestler or something. Anyway, they were telling me which cabin was for who, as well as introducing me to some of their friends. Such as Piper McLean and Leo Valdez. So my little visit went something like this:

"Hey Piper! Hey Leo!" Annabeth called, waving to two of the many people milling about. They turned towards us, Leo had curly black hair, somewhat pointy ears, and his clothes had grease and scorch marks on them; I instantly labeled him as a son of Hephaestus. Piper had choppy chocolate brown hair with little braids, and as they walked closer I noticed her eyes seemed to have no permanent colour. She was extremely pretty; yes, she was a child of Aphrodite, but she looked completely natural. Both were about the 19 or 20 age.

"Oh, look. There's the Stoll brother," Percy said looking at the Hermes cabin, "Travis! Conner!" he waved at them. They grinned mischievously at each other then joined us.

"Seriously Percy?" Annabeth muttered. "Are you trying to get her robbed?" Percy just grinned sheepishly in reply.

I looked at the four new Demigods as they greeted me. I couldn't help but feel like a child (yes, yes, technically I am, but just ignore that fact) next to them. All of them had survived countless dangers.

"Hey, new girl. My name's Leo, and if you're ever interested in tinkering, just talk to me!" Hmm, Leo was certainly full of himself. Despite the fact he was head councillor of the Hephaestus cabin.

"Leo!" Piper exclaimed giving him a whack on the shoulder, "I doubt she's looking to blow up something. Sorry, uh, what's your name?"

"It's Cora," I replied. I couldn't help the small smile that slid on my face.

"I'm Conner," said the slightly shorter of the twins.

"I'm Travis," said the other. Both had the kind of look in their eyes that said they should not be trusted. They had elfish features: upturned eyebrows and upturned noses. Probably a son of Hermes trademark, good to know.

"So Annabeth, do you know who's daughter she might be?" asked Piper.

"No," Annabeth shook her head. "There's a slight problem regarding that."

"Not another Roman. Please, don't tell us this is another Roman issue," Leo cut in.

"You're one to talk. You and Jason are best friends! And what about Hazel? What would you have against Romans?" Piper snapped.

"Um, this is the second time I've heard the name Jason," I said. "Who is he?" The Stoll Brothers, Piper, and Leo looked at me as if I was a little crazed.

"Seriously? No one told you?" Conner asked me. I shook my head in reply.

"Well," started Travis, "he was the kid who also lost his memory and he was -"

"Um, we'll tell you later," Percy cut him off. I had a feeling this Jason guy had something to do with him.

I just nodded. I might have learned something even more useful about this place; when a loud voice yelled, "Hey! Prissy!"

Everyone around got an expression that did _not _make me feel very comfortable. Over walked the biggest girl I had ever seen in my life (yeah, yeah, I know I don't have a memory, don't comment). She had stringy brown hair tied back in a bandana. She had cruel eyes and fierce face. She was extremely tall, and she had two cabin members behind her. Something about then was horrifyingly familiar, something that made me nervous.

"Hi, Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Look, we're kind of busy so if you'll excuse us . . ."

"Not so fast, who's the new girl?" Clarissa growled.

"Her name is Cora," Percy said, a dangerous edge in his voice. These two clearly did not get along.

"Did ya tell her we have a process?" She smirked.

"Clarisse, stop dunking every kids head in toilets," Piper said. "We have enough problems as it is." You know, it's not exactly comforting to be called a problem.

"Who says I do that? I didn't do that to you, or Leo, or Jason. Besides, she looks like she could -" Clarisse starting to shoot back. But a glare from everyone cut her off.

"Clarisse, we have another problem, you being you doesn't help," Annabeth said.

"Whatever," Clarisse replied. "That isn't going to change anything."

With that, she lunged past everyone and clamped her hand onto my upper arm. This girl had hands like iron. With her grip she could break my arm if she wanted to. She started to drag me away. For some reason no one was interfering. Without thinking I did what I couldn't explain. My body thought for me, I twisted and spun; my hands were raised in a defensive position. Next thing I knew I was standing behind Clarisse who looked liked she hadn't moved.

Everyone was staring at me. Clarisse and her cabin mates glared at me. Before stomping off back to their cabin.

"How did . . ." Conner started in awe.

"I – I don't know. It just happened," I told them. They looked at me with new interest.

"Well, however you did that; it was awesome!" Leo exclaimed. I looked at him.

"Okay, however that happened, it'll probably stay a mystery," Annabeth said. "But we should probably continue on the tour. Come on Cora, let's go." Annabeth walked away from the cabins towards the lake. She seemed a little disconnected. Percy followed and motioned for me. I had no choice but to go. I didn't really want to get lost.

Down at the lake, you could see most of Camp. Only the western side wasn't fully visible. That was where the stables and armoury were. Well, so said Percy. Annabeth was off deep in thought.

We were standing on the dock. Percy put his arm around Annabeth and she pressed in closer. I turned my attention to the lake and its far side. To my right I saw the arts & crafts, volleyball courts, and if I looked far enough, I could clearly make out the Big House. To my left, the amphitheatre and further down, sadly out of sight, was the climbing wall.

Behind me Percy and Annabeth had started talking in undertones. I looked down into the lake. The glittering water, calm and soothing. I suddenly had a strong urge to just dive in. I looked over the water.

I noticed my reflection. I stared, because as weird as it sounded, I had no idea what I looked like. My eyes were the same sea green as Percy. My hair, it looked like it was made of fire. That's how bright it was, and there were streaks of bright glittering blue. I couldn't help but wonder over it. I had hard, angled eyebrows, and my nose was a little upturned and rounded. I stared harder into the water, and then I noticed two people.

They were teenage girls. Their brown hair was floating in the water, they had on green shirts and blue jeans. They were both weaving baskets. My eyes swept over them. _Naiads, _said that annoying voice in my head. Seriously, it seemed to know everything, but it never did come when I wanted it. I should get my head checked.

The girls looked up at me, and there was hatred in their eyes. I swallowed, water people mad at me, great.

"What are _you _doing here?" one sneered. I blinked, stunned. But that was quickly replaced.

"What are you talking about?" I shot back. Why was I suddenly a little angry?

"You know, why are you here?" the second growled.

"Uh, it's called 'getting a tour'. I'm pretty sure you've seen it before," I replied. My random burst of anger was forgotten, just like my past.

Behind me, Percy and Annabeth had become silent. I turned to face them. They were staring at me like I had just dropped from space.

"How . . . how did you . . . ?" Percy stuttered.

"What? What did I do?" I asked them. I had no idea what was going on.

"You just talked to Naiads," Annabeth said.

"Um, Oo-_kay_," I mumbled.

"In their native tongue. No one can ever understand it. Much less speak it," she informed me. I stared at her in disbelief.

"Well I can a little," Percy said half to himself.

"Aside from you. Your dad is the Sea God, it's only natural," Annabeth told him.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't talk or hear any other language. I was speaking normally," I told them.

"Oh Styx, this can't be good," Annabeth mumbled.

"What can't be good? What are you talking about?" I asked. I was completely lost.

Turning to Percy she said, "You go and get Jason, okay Seaweed Brain?" He nodded and sprinted off to the cabins.

"Um, seriously, who is this Jason guy?" I half asked, half begged her.

"Later, right now, you need to talk to Chiron, let's go," Annabeth grabbed my hand, and raced off to Big House dragging me with her.

When we got there, Chiron was in wheelchair form playing some card game with invisible players. _Pinochle, _said that voice in my head. _Shut up! _I screamed back to it. Chiron frowned and put down his cards. The strange invisible players also dropped the cards.

"What is it?" Chiron asked. I looked helplessly at Annabeth. I still didn't get what she had been talking about.

"Chiron, Cora just spoke to Naiads. In their own language," Annabeth informed him. He frowned even deeper.

"Did you really?" he asked me. I sighed and shook my head.

"I have no idea what she means," I admitted.

"Really?" he paused. "This is the truth?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I have no idea what is going on."

"Remarkable," he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"I just spoke to you in Latin, and you reply back with no effort," he said. I stared at him.

"What? No, you didn't speak in another language. You were speaking in English," I said stating the obvious.

"My dear, I wasn't speaking English. I'm afraid I must believe that wherever you grew up, you were taught to speak in more than one language," Chiron told me softly. I looked back and forth between Annabeth and Chiron. I was so confused. This couldn't be happening.


	7. A Different Kind Of Genius

Percy: A Different Kind of Genius

I was running to the Commons when I bumped into Katie Gardener. She was on her way to the Hermes cabin. Hmm, wonder why? (I'll explain later)

I asked her if she knew if Jason was in his cabin. She told me he was and we went on our separate ways.

A word about Jason Grace. He's a son of Jupiter, Zeus's Roman counterpart. Jason is a Child of Rome, from Camp Jupiter in the Bay Area near San Francisco. He's currently staying with us until his exile ends in September (long story about that. But Reyna is not someone you want to get mad and Octavian is not very welcoming). So he's staying in Zeus's cabin. Oh, and he's a blood brother to our friend Thalia Grace, who is the lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis.

He and I were switched by Hera and she stole our memories. There, I said it, happy? She stole our memories, sent me to the Roman camp after eight months, and did the same to Jason sending him to Camp Half-Blood. It was about the second Great Prophecy, and the Giant/Gaea War. Greeks and Romans had to join forces. But I'm not going into any more detail. It's too long and painful (and it makes me angry) to recount.

Anyway, I knocked on the door to Zeus's cabin. Jason answered the door, saw me, and gave a warm smile. Jason had close cropped blond hair, electric blue eyes, and a scar on his upper lip (he tried eating a stapler when he was two).

"Hey Percy, how are things? I heard you were helping out the new girl," Jason said. News travels fast.

"Yeah, I am. Look, could I come in?" I asked him. The less people who knew about this, the better.

"Um, sure. But Hunter's here and Piper will be coming soon, will that be a problem?" he asked me a little confused. I shook my head and stepped in. Jason closed the door behind me.

Hunter was sitting on one of the bunks. Hunter is a son of Hebe, the youth goddess, and a demigod I can strangely actually remember that wasn't in a prophecy or a war captain. He's a French Canadian. He was brought to camp before he could learn English (however that worked), so he currently could only speak French. Jason and Piper worked together to teach him English; Frank Zhang helped out too if he ever stopped by for some reason.

Hunter was only 15, he had a pale complexion, green eyes flecked with brown, and light brown hair. Most people stayed away from him, no one really knew his past, and the language barrier kept most people away. Only Aphrodite kids could understand him, but they weren't normally that friendly – except Piper.

"So what's the problem?" Jason asked me. I looked at him directly in the eyes before replying.

"The new girl, Cora, she has no memory," his eyes widen and he started to get a little agitated. Me and him both knew how serious this was.

"Really? She's not a Roman is she? Because Lupa is not going to really help an unknown Greek again after the last disruption, as she put it." He was worried, he missed the Romans. The same way I had missed Camp.

"No. There's no tattoo and she doesn't wear a _probatio _tablet. But we just heard her speak to Naiads, in Nailaic. And she wasn't even aware of it," I explained to him. He started pacing back and forth.

"You've got to be kidding; not Roman yet turning up out of the blue with no memory. She was like how I and the Romans are with Latin? Like how the Aphrodite and Venus kids are with French?" he asked. I nodded, he inhaled sharply. "Well, what are we doing here? She may not be Roman, but I want to go meet her." I nodded grimly and turned to go out the door. Then I remembered Hunter. An idea popped into my head. I ducked back in, grabbed a very confused protesting Hunter and pulled him along with us.

We raced over to the Big House. Chiron was in wheelchair form, with several cards on the table. He must have been playing pinochle when Annabeth and Cora arrived. Cora was looking lost, can't say I don't blame her. Chiron had a deep frown and looked very concerned and worried. Annabeth was deep in thought.

Chiron nodded to me and Jason, but raised an eyebrow at Hunter. I didn't know where to start. Thankfully Jason did.

"Hi, my name is Jason. You must be Cora," he introduced himself.

"You're Jason?" she asked. "The guy I've heard mentioned about five times?"

"Um, yeah, that's me . . ." he mumbled, face a little red.

"Okay, and why do people seem to act like I'm repeating something dealing with you?" she queried. It was clear she was becoming more comfortable around us. Jason just looked at all of us. Chiron cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, but there will be time to discuss that later. Percy, Jason, we just discovered that Cora also speaks in Latin," Chiron cut in, informing us.

"Really?" Jason asked her. Cora shrugged and looked at us as if we were crazed.

"I still have no idea what you people are talking about. I'm not talking in different dialects!" she protested. Once again, I don't blame her; I was like that at the Roman camp with Ancient Greek.

Now, I had almost forgotten about Hunter. He was still standing behind me. But seeing as he had almost no idea what we were saying, and that he hadn't been introduced. He walked around me and just gazed at Cora, his body tense and his expression unsure but also mildly hopeful.

"Ah Percy, why did you bring Hunter?" Chiron asked me.

"Well, seeing as I heard Cora speak to Naiads, and since he was about to get a lesson from Jason and Piper, I thought that this might be a way to see if she spoke another language," I told him. Annabeth glanced at me, then came over and laced her fingers through mine. It was normal enough, but I knew that meant that she thought it was a good idea too.

"I see," Chiron replied. He nodded to Hunter, gesturing to introduce himself.

"Bonjour," he said quietly. "Je m'appelle Hunter."

"Bonjour," she replied, "Faites tu savez qu'ils parlent de?" Everyone just stared at her. She replied in perfect French with an accent and everything – maybe she was a daughter of Aphrodite (though she didn't look it). Hunter gave her a curious look, but then a faint smile played on his lips.

"Non. Tu parles en français?" he asked her. Cora frowned. She wasn't aware of this either. And for all you people who don't know French; Cora asked him if he knew what we were talking about. He said he didn't and asked if she spoke French. Maybe I ought to be a translator for them . . .

"Non. Je parle Anglais. Je ne parle pas Français." She told him confused (she said she speaks English and doesn't speak French). Hunter's face also changed into confusion.

I cleared my throat, "Uh, you just spoke to him in French."

"No I didn't," she protested.

"My dear," Chiron started quietly. "Hunter is a French Canadian; he currently only knows how to speak in French."

"But . . . but all I hear is English!" she cried.

"If you may, I would like to conduct a test with you," Chiron asked her.

"What sort of test?" she replied warily.

"Nothing painful. I would just like to see how far your knowledge of languages goes. May I?" Cora gave a small nod.

So Chiron started asking her some things in different dialects. She talked back perfectly. She got more and more confused and nervous as it went on.

They went on for ten or fifteen minutes. When they were done we had all pretty much zoned out. Chiron clapped his hand to bring our attentions back. It took me a minute to focus on what Chiron was saying.

"Well, it appears you know just every language known to humans. This brings up the question _how_. Do you have any clue how you know this?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "I'm just speaking English!"

"Look, I know it's hard to believe, but you are speaking other languages," Annabeth told her gently walking over placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You know, it's actually pretty cool. I mean, you can talk to anyone. And that might mean something good . . ." I told her. She glared at me, oops, wrong thing to say.

"What? Are you crazy? I swear I'm not talking differently!" She was distressed. "On top of that I have some creepy voice inner voice in my head and – and-" She burst into tears and ran out of the Big House porch. We watched her run off towards the woods.

"Go after her. All of you," Chiron instructed. We nodded and headed off after her. This girl was like some freaky genius, smart as Athena herself (don't tell Annabeth!). But though to me it was as clear as day, to everyone else it might not have be. Especially to Cora herself.


	8. I Open Up My Pain

Cora: I Open Up My Pain

I don't know what came over me. I just ran, and ran, and ran. Where I was going I didn't know. I had a vague impression of trees. But my eyes were shut and tears were threatening to over flow. I kept going, I never felt myself get tired, if anything it felt good.

When I stopped I realized where I was. I was in the woods. I shouldn't be here; Annabeth and Percy said they were stocked with monsters. But to be honest, I didn't care. I was surrounded by mammoth trees that looked hundreds of year old; a small clear pond was across the semi-clearing I was in. Please let there be no annoying Naiads there. I didn't want to deal with anyone – human or magical - right now.

I sat down against a tree trunk. The tears behind my eyes finally came out. I curled into a ball and sobbed. I cried and screamed into myself.

_What are you doing? _said that voice. _You do not cry! You are strong, this is for the weak! _

_SHUT UP! _I screamed back at it. I felt like that voice wasn't my own now; like it was someone else. I kept crying. No one could understand how confusing this was. I felt like this one little piece was missing, and then, maybe, I could find out who I was.

Slowly my wild sobs quieted. Until I was basically whimpering with tears escaping my eyes, the tears made my face wet. Then I heard a noise. I stiffened and looked around. Please, oh please, don't let it be a monster. Despite the horrible way my life was going, I didn't really want to die!

I swivelled my head around searching for the source of the sound. To my right I noticed movement. I scrubbed my hand across my cheeks to wipe away any trace of tears, just in case it was a person.

That Hunter boy stepped out from the foliage. I blinked and looked away. I would _not _let him see how miserable I was. He walked over and crouched beside me.

"Are . . . are you okay?" he asked me quietly.

"Yeah . . . I guess so," I told him, my voice cracking. I was shaking.

"No, you're not. Why are you out here?" he tried to make me face him. He seemed to have a small smile on his face. I pushed him away. I didn't want to deal with anyone.

"I don't know. I wasn't really looking," I muttered.

"You do realize you're speaking French," he told me.

"Stop saying that! I am not!" I screamed at him. _Calm down _I told myself, _He didn't do anything, just calm down. _

"Sorry, I – I didn't mean . . . I just . . ." he mumbled scuttling backwards.

"It's not your fault. It's just . . ." I felt the tears again.

"It's just what? What's wrong?" he asked me.

"Nothing, forget it. I don't want to talk about it," I muttered. If he really did speak French, then he might not know what had been happening all day. I couldn't tell my horrible tale. I didn't even understand it! I sooner give myself up to the Naiads then tell it out loud.

"It is something. Can you at least tell me what all this is about? I have no idea what anyone said," he sounded sincere.

"No, I won't, I won't ever tell it," I told him squeezing my eyes shut.

"Why not?"

I took a shaky breath. "Because I won't," I said turning to face him and opening my eyes a crack.

He opened his mouth to reply, but then he noticed something. I glanced down and realized he was looking at my Soul Key. That was a little creepy. He reached out and held it lightly in his hand. A tingling spread over my whole body.

"Where did you get this?" He whispered. Why was it so important to him?

"I don't know . . . Why?" I replied, the tingling getting more intense.

"I have one that – that . . ." His voice faded away into nothing

I was going to reply, when my body exploded in pain. It felt like my molecules were trying to break apart. I cried out, it hurt so much. I felt like something was ripping me apart from the inside.

"Hu – Hunter!" I gasped, barely able to breathe. "Let go!" My sight was blurring; my body was screaming in pain. I couldn't get air into my lungs. He yelped and let go.

Then it stopped, I lay on my back breathing heavily. Hunter crouched over me looking extremely worried. For a moment I thought he was going to do CPR or something (okay really? I have no memory but I know a bunch of stuff? Wherever I was raised must have been good at teaching people . . . I guess . . .). I calmed my breathing before sitting up clutching my spinning head.

"What happened? What did I do? You're not hurt are you?" he asked.

"I – I'm fine, I don't know what happened. Could we maybe just forget it?" He nodded and I gave a grateful smile. I blocked what had happened from my mind.

"All right. I'll forget it. Can you tell me what has you so upset now?" He was persistent. I sighed and looked away.

"No, I can't. I can't talk about it."

"Why not?" he pressed.

"Because no one understands!" I burst. So much for keeping quiet.

"I might, no one understands me. After all I've been here for two years and I've never had a real friend . . ." He said quietly. I stared at him.

"Really?" I asked him.

"Yeah, mostly from the language barrier," he said. "But can you tell me what's wrong?"

"I . . . I can't. It's hard to tell . . ." I looked away. Don't cry, don't cry, whatever you do, don't cry, I chanted in my head.

At that moment a low scuttling sound came from behind us. We shot to our feet and stood back-to-back surveying the trees, looking for the cause of the sound. The tree in front of me shook, the underbrush quivered. A scorpion pushed through the forest growth and stopped dead before me.

I could only stare at the huge, glistening amber coloured arachnid. Its beady black eyes bore into me. It was easily twice my height. I swallowed, I couldn't move. That's when it lunged.

Hunter grabbed my arm and shoved me behind him. He drew a dagger out from somewhere. A dagger. Against a giant beast. That wouldn't end well. He would get himself killed – and then I would die.

Once again, my body acted for me. Hunter was dangerously parrying the scorpion's tail with his dagger the best he could, but he wouldn't be able to lay a blow – he could barely defend. Suddenly I was on my feet with a gleaming silver sword in my hand. I charged the monster, jumping off a rock that edged the pond. Then I was on its back. Standing extremely close to its stinger, I slashed and cut the tail off at the base. The monster let out a piercing hiss and crumbled away in to dust.

I fell to the ground, the sword was gone. Disappeared as if it had never been. I landed so abruptly my shoulders whacked the earth and I would have fallen into the pond had Hunter not grabbed my arm.

"What . . . what just happened?" I mumbled in a daze, my ears were strangely ringing.

"How did you do that? Where did that sword come from? You just single-handedly took out a giant scorpion!" Hunter was excited.

"I – I don't know . . . it just happened," I admitted sitting up.

"Does this have to do with what you wouldn't tell me earlier?" he asked.

"Probably. And I'm sorry, this is my fault," I said tearing up.

"Don't say that."

"It is," I looked at him. His eyes, green with brown, they were full of concern. They tugged at my conscience. But I didn't even know him. "You promise you won't tell?" I asked in a small voice. He nodded.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to," he said. I gave a small smile; I wanted to trust him. Then I started my sad, short tale. Once I started I found I couldn't stop. It just kept rushing out of me, I told him everything – waking up with no memory, the monsters, the strange things I felt; everything - everything but the voice. Something told me not to mention that. When I was done, I was almost in tears again.

"So that's what this is all about," he said.

"Yes, and – and no one gets how hard and confusing this all is!" I cried. Here they were, the tears. Flowing ever faster down my face.

"Oh gods Cora, I am so sorry. But maybe you'll figure something out. I promise I won't tell anyone this, and you'll find a way to remember," Hunter promised. I sniffed and nodded. Scrubbing my eyes I wiped away the tears the best I could.

I noticed through the treetops that the sun was getting low in the sky. I heard footsteps and voices behind us. Standing up and looking around I saw Annabeth, Grover (that is his name right . . . ?), and Percy walking up to us.

When they saw us,their expression said they clearly had been out here for a reason. Why did I have a feeling it had to do with me?


	9. The Events That Dinner Brings

Percy: The Events That Dinner Brings

We found Cora and Hunter on the far side of the woods. Actually, Grover found them. Me and Annabeth searched for half an hour (well, maybe not for the whole time . . . please don't judge us) before we decided I should call Grover to find her. Apparently she's really good at hiding . . . and apparently Hunter can easily find her . . . little creepy.

Cora looked like she might have been crying; her eyes were a little red. They both looked a little disheveled, like they might have been in a scuffle. Then I noticed marks behind them in the far side. So a monster must have found them . . . not surprising if what Grover said is true about her. Judging by how they were still out here, Hunter must have forgotten.

"Uh, Hunter, did you forget you were supposed to bring her back?" I asked him. He gave me a confused look then turned to Cora.

"Qu'a-t-il dit?" He asked her (he said 'what did he say').

"Il demandé si tu avez oublié. Oublié quel?" she replied (she told him 'he asked if you forgot. Forgot what'). It was very odd to listen into a conversation in French.

Hunter's eyes widened. Cora looked at him confused. Guess Hunter did forget. What had they been doing then? Aside from fighting some monster.

"Um, what are you talking about?" Cora asked me.

"Chiron sent all of us to find you when you ran off," Annabeth told her. Her face got that _Oo-hhhhhh _expression.

"Sorry . . . I didn't mean to worry you guys . . . I was just upset. I really didn't mean any harm," she explained. She looked a little embarrassed but seemed unsure if she should be apologizing. At that moment the conch horn signalling dinner blew.

"We should probably go. I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry and Chiron is probably even more worried," I cut in.

Everyone but Cora agreed and we walked through the woods back to the dining hall, keeping an eye out for monsters. Cora and Hunter were talking in French behind us. I couldn't tell what they were saying; she was probably asking him what the conch horn meant. Oh well, it would be good for Hunter to get a friend, the poor guy was always alone.

When we arrived at the dining pavilion everyone else was already there. Chiron was just about to start the announcements when we walked in. Everyone turned to stare at us. Grover's face turned pink and I probably didn't look much better.

"Glad you could join us. Campers! You all know of the fight earlier today, after it we gained a new camper. Cora?" Chiron said. Cora stepped forward and she looked nervous. Well after all that had happened that day I couldn't blame her.

"Everyone, this is Cora. I hope you treat her with respect. Especially the Ares cabin," he continued. I almost laughed. The Ares cabin, nice? I had never heard of such a thing – unless you count Frank the only nice son of Mars. Everyone nodded (the Ares cabin did a little glaring) and we walked over to our tables.

Cora stood there for a moment, until Chiron walked over and led her to the Hermes table. He probably quickly explained everything about meals because she sat down without a word. She just sat there silent, trying to keep out of everyone's conversations. Which is you look like her couldn't be too easy . . .

We passed around all the food. I loaded my plate with smoked brisket. Well, there were some vegetables, but I like barbecue more. When we got up to dump some in the flame for the gods, I was behind the Hermes cabin, with Annabeth behind me. And Cora in front. One look at Annabeth told me to help her out.

"Hey," I whispered to her. Cora turned to me confused. "We dump part of our meal into the flames. As an offering to the gods, they like the smell." She gave me a curious look.

"Really? The smell?" she asked doubtfully. I nodded and she shrugged. Was it just me or did her moods change as fast as one of the gods?

Slowly the line shuffled forward. Then it was Cora's turn. I noticed Hestia in the flames. Her eyes seemed to bore into me. Like she was trying to tell me something. Cora scrapped a slice of meat into the fire and muttered something I couldn't make out.

I really wished I hadn't been standing directly behind her. When the meat hit the coals it reacted like nuclear fusion (Annabeth taught me that). The fire exploded into different colours. It rose up; soon it was towering over even Chiron.

The flames took on the shape of a giant bird. This bird was the most magnificent you've ever seen. It was a phoenix, the colours were shifting through the rainbow. It opened its beak and spoke.

_Be strong young Hero! Your time will come! Be strong until the time is ripe! Have courage! _It said. It sounded like the fire itself was speaking. Hissing and cracking, that was how it sounded. Once it finished speaking the colour settled back to red. The same shade of Cora's hair even. Then it shrunk. Soon it was just a fire again.

Cora hadn't moved, she was staring at the fire but not in fear. She seemed almost – calm. Chiron walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She blinked and looked startled.

"I didn't do it! I swear!" She exclaimed.

"I know," he told her quietly. Then to the whole camp. "It seems we have received an omen!" Thanks Chiron, like we really need that.

Everyone was silent; we didn't want any more wars, or problems with the gods, or anything. Would I _ever _get a normal summer? Apparently not.

"Everyone carry on! We should not worry about this! Carry on as before," Chiron instructed. We all went back to our own business. The best we could, it was a little hard with potential doom, and Rachel wouldn't be here for a week.

Cora walked over to the Hermes table and we went on with dinner. I had thought the rest of the night would be uneventful. But when dinner was over there was still one more announcement.

"This Friday night there will a Capture the Flag game!"

The entire camp exploded into cheers. The first game of the summer. Annabeth and Grover smiled at me from the opposite side if the pavilion. This week might just turn out great after all.

We headed off to our cabins, the Apollo cabin was going to work on some big surprise, so we didn't have campfire that night. I got changed and collapsed on my bunk. I was exhausted after today's events. Then I remembered Tyson would be coming up for a while a little later in the summer.

So for now I put the events of dinner out of my mind and fell asleep with a smile on my face.


	10. The Training Begins

Cora: The Training Begins

The morning when I woke up, Chiron pulled me aside before breakfast. He asked me how I was feeling and settling in. I told him I was fine. Even though my sleeps had been tormented by nightmares. Mostly to do with what happened at dinner and how I reacted to my Soul Key. Also I had to sleep in my clothes . . . and only then did I realize I had a belt with a pouch and empty sheath. But I didn't tell him that.

He told me after breakfast we would begin training. Not only would I learn to fight, but I would get closer to finding out who my godly parent was. Which would be good since I didn't even know if it was my mom or my dad. He said to meet him at the track. I assumed for foot-racing. What that had to do with anything I didn't know. But I agreed.

Breakfast passed uneventful (thankfully). I wandered down to the track, though I kept glancing behind me, feeling like I was being followed. Weird right? Down there Chiron was waiting with a girl. She had light brown hair, and she looked a little like that girl Grover had been with. Juniper that was her name. This girl looked a little similar.

_Tree Nymph, _said the voice. I had taken to ignoring it. Yelling didn't make it shut up.

"Good, you're here," Chiron greeted, "We're going to start off easy. Just a race between you and Navarna here. How does that sound?" I blinked. This was a little odd, what would a race against a tree spirit prove?

"Um, okay," I replied. Me and Navarna lined up. When she said go, she took off very fast.

I ran behind her, going pretty fast myself. I was just behind her. My instinct took over. I opened up my stride and ran faster. Soon I was beside her. She started to make herself go even faster. I easily matched her pace. I smiled to myself a how good it felt. I kept going. Slowly I was in front of her. I wasn't even aware of myself running anymore, it just felt so natural. Before I knew it I crossed the line several feet in front of her. As soon as I did, I slowed down and came to a stop. It took a moment, but I realized my breathing had barely changed. It was almost the same as before.

Chiron was looking at me with new interest. Navarna's eyes were shooting daggers at me. I swallowed; she looked really scary like that.

"Thanks, like I needed it rubbed in even more," she snarled before disappearing in a poof of green smoke. I looked at Chiron, I had no idea what that was about.

"Do you know what that was about?" I asked him. He shook his head and started walking away. I followed him, wondering where we were going next.

"Come, the Apollo cabin has archery now, I think that this is a good time to find out your skill with a bow," he told me. I followed him down to the range.

Down there several kids were taking turns shooting at targets. They all had a similar ferrety look. Maybe it was from always looking down an arrow shaft. They were using all sorts of bows. Compound and recurve (no idea how I know that), some were made of metal, while some where made completely of wood.

Chiron led me up to a shed where the bows were all on racks, and quivers were full of arrows. Some were poor quality, while some were beautiful.

"Do you know how to shoot?" Chiron asked me. Seeing the bows, I felt something stir inside me.

"I . . . I think so," I told him. He nodded and looked surprised. But he didn't comment on it.

"Alright, go ahead and choose a bow then," he instructed. I gave a small nod. I looked at all the bows. Suddenly I felt compelled to reach into my pouch. I ignored the feeling. How would reaching into my pouch help me choose a bow?

I noticed one that was hanging near the bottom. It was a recurve (they're the ones that don't have pulleys and other complexities) and made entirely of wood. It looked like it was of fairly good quality. Hesitantly I walked over and picked it up. It was light and strong. But it felt a little off balance. Somehow I knew others wouldn't be any better though.

I walked back to Chiron; he nodded, grabbed a few arrows and walked over to an empty target range. I followed behind him. The Apollo campers were amazing, not a single arrow missed, all hit the bull's-eye. I looked nervously at Chiron.

"Go ahead," he told me.

Taking a deep breath I took an arrow and knocked it. Raising the bow I lined it with the target. I drew the bow, it was light and smooth. I drew far back, behind me head. Taking a deep breath I got that feeling that was getting all too familiar. Without thinking I lined up and released.

The arrow flew straight and true. More or less, it landed with a _thwunk _sound in the third ring from the edge (the blue one for all you non-archers). Some of the campers nearby paused and looked at me. I turned back to Chiron. He was looking at me with a faraway look in his eyes.

He asked me to shoot the rest of the arrows. So I did, and I wasn't too aware of doing it. I just did it. Like it was a part of me. Only one hit the bull's-eye. The rest landed in assorted places around it. Chiron was lost in thought when he told me to return the bow. I nodded and walked to place it back. This was getting stranger and stranger.

On the way to put the bow back, I wasn't looking and nearly walked into a girl.

"Careful!" she said giggling. "Don't want to bump into to anyone!"

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," I told her. I looked up and couldn't help but analyze her. She was slightly plump, and she had warm brown eyes. Her hair was light brown, it was all cut in different lengths, some curled some straight. This gave her hair a spiky affect. I also noticed her hair had glitter in it . . . odd, and kind of cool.

"I can tell. Hey, you're that new girl right? Cora? Isn't it?" she asked. A gave small smile, I wasn't sure if her remembering me from last night was a good thing or not.

"Yea, that's me. Um, you are?"

"I'm Alexandra. But call me Alex," she replied.

"Ok, well, I'd better go. Uh, see you around?" I noticed Chiron looking in my direction.

"Sure! Bye!" she waved and walked off. I nodded and returned the bow. I jogged back to Chiron who was already walking off. Clearly trying to hurry me up. I followed him to the climbing wall. The name is misleading.

The climbing wall consisted of two rock walls facing each other. A couple campers were scampering up them. The shook and clashed together, oh, and you can't forget the lava flowing down. The point was to climb to the top before the lava reached you. Or before the rocks flattened you into a pancake . . . fun – not.

I felt a weird stirring in the pit of my stomach, and it wasn't fear. It was anticipation. For some reason I _wanted _to do this. Crazy thoughts, wow something was wrong with me. Then again I was a girl with memory loss and red-and-blue hair. So it's not that strange . . . Ah, moving on.

I glanced at Chiron thinking _are you serious? _He didn't see anything wrong about this. Nor did anyone else, must be me.

"Now I know this seems dangerous," began Chiron. _You think? _I wanted to yell, but I kept my mouth shut and let him continue. "But it is quite safe; anyone can make the wall stop. As long as they are at the control panel. We'll start on the lowest setting."

We walked over to the wall. Everyone else cleared out; at least I wouldn't have an audience. I walked over to the base, he started it and I grabbed the rock pulling myself up.

Now, I'm sure you can guess what happened next. I knew what I had to do. Without thinking I started climbing fast. Sometimes I swung myself to the next ledge. I just did it. I couldn't have started more than a minute ago. Suddenly I was at the top. The wall stopped shaking and I risked a glance down.

I could have been sick; I was up roughly, oh, 150 feet. Chiron was staring up at me, clearly dumbfounded. Uh oh, I noticed a ladder leading down to the ground. I rushed over and hurried to get back to the earth.

Back on the ground, Chiron looked puzzled. I could have asked him if I had done something wrong, but a conch horn blew signaling lunch. So he bid me goodbye and went off to the pavilion by himself. So I had to walk back alone, real pleasant.

Lunch was boring, and I'm sure that's a good thing. When I asked Chiron what was next, he told me sword-fighting. I followed him to the arena. I had barely walked in when a wall of black fur slammed into me.

"What the - ?" I could barely get the words out before a giant tongue was licking my face. I realized it was a huge dog the size of a truck. The dog had dark red eyes and midnight black fur, as well as extremely sharp teeth. Which were a little too close to my face.

"Mrs O'Leary, no!" a voice yelled. A familiar voice that sent a tingle down my spine. Percy.

"Percy perhaps you should get your dog off Cora. I hardly doubt it's comfortable," Chiron's voice.

"Sorry, Mrs O'Leary heel! Down girl!" Percy called. Thankfully the huge tongue stopped licking and the giant paw came off my chest. I sat up dizzy. I would gladly never experience that again. I blinked and looked around. The mammoth dog – Mrs O'Leary was lying down chewing a dummy. Percy was standing in front of me, and yup. The guy had a glow about him. Maybe he was blessed or something . . .

"You have a giant dog," I said stupidly.

"Yea, this is Mrs O'Leary, my pet hellhound," He told me rubbing the back of his head.

"A pet hellhound? I'm not going to even ask," I muttered. I dragged myself to my feet, wiping dog slobber off my face.

"It's a long story anyways, so Chiron; you want me to spar with her?" he said. Spar? With this guy? Who was one of the best in camp? This was madness.

"Yes," Chiron said.

"I'm sorry, but what are you two talking about exactly?" I asked them both.

"Cora, you and Percy will spar. To see if you have any skill with swords. Or knives and daggers. Don't worry, Percy won't hurt you, and it's almost impossible to hurt him," Chiron explained. I didn't get how I couldn't hurt him. But whatever, I'd find out.

Percy pulled out a pen and uncapped it. Turned out his sword goes around disguised as a pen, that was pretty cool. It was three feet long and made of bronze. Chiron gave me a practice blade, but it wasn't quite right. I tried many, but none seemed to balance right. My mind couldn't help nut wander to the one that had appeared yesterday . . . _Forget it _I told myself, _It was just a weird experience. It's not important. _Eventually we gave up and I went with the one that was the best.

We began to spar. At first Percy was winning, whapping me in the side with the flat of his blade. I was a little confused, but after a minute I started to get it. Almost like I was remembering it. Soon it was coming naturally. I could tell when he was feinting, I blocked with ease. More or less, the sword didn't make it too easy.

Finally I found my opening. I was swiping to the left when his blade came up to block. Faster than should be humanly possible, I change my swipe into a feint. I changed the direction of my sword and struck at his right side. But when my blade connected with him, something happened. That strange glow he had brightened. My blade bounced off his skin. I stumbled back thrown off balance.

_Dipped in the river as a child, thus was a great hero long ago. Now, here is the gift once again. But this time a different hero, a different destiny, _whispered the voice in my mind. I regained my balance but stop fighting. That glow he had, it had to do with a river. It sounded so familiar, if only I could remember!

"Cora?" Percy asked capping his sword. "What's wrong?" I blinked myself out of my thoughts.

"Uh, n – nothing," I mumbled. Percy looked at me strange. Thankfully a cabin came in at the time.

"Hebe cabin," Percy muttered. "We might want to stop now." I nodded mutely and walked to put my sword back. I just got there when someone walked up behind me.

"Hi," said a voice. I turned around and gave a small smile.

"Hey Hunter," I said. "This is your cabin?"

"Yea, so how are things? Chiron's been testing you," he smiled tightly, something told me he had to do this too.

"Good . . . Great actually," I muttered. I placed the sword back with the others.

"Really? Wait, why weren't you using your own?" He asked. I knew he was referring to the one I had suddenly used yesterday. I was about to tell him I wasn't sure where it had even gone to when . . .

"Her own?" Chiron asked behind me. I turned around. Chiron was towering over us. Darn, I was hoping not to mention that.

"Her – her sword . . ." mumbled Hunter looking nervous.

"Cora, what sword?" Chiron asked again. This was not happening; it had to be just my luck this was going on.


	11. We Learn Why She's So Different

Percy: We Learn Why She's So Different

Cora's mouth opened and closed, looking uncommonly like a fish. Her face was flushed pink. Hunter was beside her; he looked nervous and was extremely pale. I missed what Chiron was asking her about. I walked over to them. They didn't send a single glance my way.

"Cora, I'll repeat it. What sword?" Chiron questioned.

"Umm . . . well . . . I – I," Cora stammered. Chiron turned to Hunter, whose face had paled even more.

"Hunter, what were you talking about?" he asked him. Hunter swallowed but didn't say anything. He didn't know what had Chiron said.

"He meant something that happened yesterday!" Cora blurted out. Silent then talkative? That wasn't like any person, that's for sure.

"What happened yesterday?" I asked.

"It . . . it happened when I ran into the woods . . ." she muttered. "We got attacked . . ."

"What attacked you?" I asked.

"A scorpion. And – and I killed it . . ." she mumbled. Me and Chiron, and anyone else nearby stared at her. This girl? So confused and lost; killed a giant scorpion? Gods, someone was messing with us.

"How?" Chiron asked softly.

"With a sword . . . that's what Hunter meant . . . I suddenly had a sword. But it disappeared. I – I didn't – I never -" Cora was upset. Anyone could see that. The entire arena was silent. I cast a glare at everyone in it.

"We should get out of here. It's to public," I said quietly to Chiron. He nodded.

"Come you two," Chiron told them before cantering off. Cora and Hunter were still out of it though, so I grabbed them by the wrist and dragged them out of the arena to the Big House.

When we got there Chiron was already inside in wheelchair form. I sat down on a plush couch and glanced at Chiron. There was a sad look in his thousand-year old eyes.

"So let me get this straight," Chiron began. "You killed a scorpion, but you don't know how or where the weapon used went too?"

"Yes. It just happened. I didn't know what was going on," Cora said almost silently; she was standing across the room from Chiron and nervously fiddling with her fingers.

"I see," Chiron paused as if considering something. "Cora, what's in your pouch?" Cora looked confused. Then she realized what he'd meant, she glanced down before replying.

"I don't know," she said finally.

"Check."

Cora hesitated; then undid the flap of her pouch. Gently she reached him. She took out three small objects. A chain with a single charm, and small silver object, and one more which looked like a twig. She stared at them, almost transfixed. She had seen them before, but she didn't know where or how. I could tell, I could read it on her face.

"What are those?" I asked. She blinked several times as if coming out of a trance.

"I'm not sure. But . . . they seem familiar," she said. Chiron wheeled over to her.

"May I see them?" he asked her. She paused before nodding. Gingerly she handed then over. He held them up to the light and looked them over thoroughly. He did this for several minutes.

"Magic items," he said eventually. "Do you know how you got these?" Cora shook her head. "Could you try using them?" was his next question. She shrugged.

"Sure."

Chiron handed her the chain first. Without hesitation she slipped it on her left wrist. She fingered it for a moment, and then tapped the charm three times. I just had time to see it was shaped as some ancient symbol before it changed. It glowed orangey-gold then grew larger and thicker. Within a moment she had a silver and gold shield on her arm. The base was pure silver, rimmed in gold. In the centre was a golden symbol of Nike, Goddess of Victory.

We were all staring at it when Annabeth walked in.

"Chiron I -" she stopped dead when she saw Cora's shield. "What is going on?"

"Confusion," I said gesturing for her to come and sit by me. Still looking at Cora she came and sat beside me. Cora was staring at the shield in wonder, we all were.

"Just like Thalia's . . ." I muttered to myself. But it was so quiet everyone heard me.

"Who's Thalia?" Cora half said half whispered.

"Our friend, she the lieutenant to Artemis and a daughter of Zeus. Also Jason's sister," Annabeth informed her.

"Do you have any clue to how you got this?" Chiron asked Cora. She shook her head.

"None, I didn't even know I had anything in the pouch," she replied.

"Put it away for now, let us try the other items," Chiron instructed. Cora tapped a spot on the chain and it glowed then shrunk back into a bracelet. She slipped it off and placed it back into her pouch.

Next Chiron gave her the small silver object. As he handed it to her I saw it was just the right size to fit in someone's palm. It was shaped like a dagger, or maybe a sword. It was a little small to see properly.

She stared at it for a minute. Then she rubbed her thumb along the length of it. It shimmered and in a moment she was holding a sword. It was a bit shorter then my sword, Riptide. It was made of silver, shining in the light. The handle was wrapped in leather, and the hilt was of plain bronze. It looked wickedly dangerous, but it was one of the most amazing looking sword's I have ever seen. We were all staring at it in wonder.

"C'est tout! C'est l'épée!" Hunter exclaimed. So this is what they had been talking about.

"This is . . . this is . . ." Cora couldn't even complete a sentence. She felt the weight and shape in her hand; she looked completely natural with it.

"That is made of Tempest Silver. One of the rarest metals to the gods," Chiron informed us. We all looked at each other confused.

"This is the sword from yesterday!" Cora exclaimed.

"I figured as much," Chiron said quietly. "How you came by that sword that no doubt will remain a mystery for some time. But for now, put it away and let us try the last item." Cora nodded and she ran her thumb along something embedded in the hilt. It shimmered and changed back into the charm. She stared at it for a moment longer before placing it in her pouch.

Chiron next handed her the 'twig'. It just looked like a small piece of polished wood. She held it, turning it over in her hands.

"I have a feeling you should back up . . ." she said. Chiron wheeled back a few feet. Hunter stepped back confused, he just did so since Chiron did. Cora had talked in English so he had no idea what she said.

Cora stretched out her arm palm down, the wood horizontal to the ground. It seemed to almost explode. The wood thickened and shot out sideways. Something dropped down on the end closest to me and Annabeth.

Within a moment she held a basic bow. It was made of dark wood, with veins of golden and silver wood. Hanging on one end was a quiver made of dark suede, full of an assortment of different arrows. We all stared dumbfounded. It was an amazing bow, but it had looked oddly familiar in style.

"Wow, this is . . . I don't know a word," Annabeth muttered next to me. Chiron cleared his throat, bringing us back to our senses.

"Cora, do you feel like you've seen all these before?" he asked her.

"Yes, I do. But . . . I feel like something is missing . . ." she replied.

"Oh!" Annabeth exclaimed. "I know why! Yesterday, I think you might have dropped this!" Annabeth revealed her dagger in its sheath, next to it was another one, but that one was made of the silver metal. Tempest Silver, Chiron had called it.

"That – that's . . ." Cora stuttered. Without her even aware, the bow shrunk and changed, she placed it into her pouch. "That's the dagger I . . . I . . ."

"You what? Used?" I asked her. She gave a small nod.

"On one of those dragon women, right after I woke up," she explained. Annabeth stood and gave it to her hilt first.

"This is yours," she said simply. Cora took it and slipped it into the empty sheath on her belt. Annabeth sat back down and leaned against me. Cora sat quietly into an empty chair.

Chiron leaned back and pressed his fingertips together. He was silent for a full minute before saying, "We might not be the only training camp out there." We all looked up at Chiron in shock. It had been shocking enough to know that there were Romans, but another camp still? It was crazy.

"Chiron, what are you saying?" Annabeth breathed.

"Cora here has incredible abilities. She is armed with weapons. She doesn't know who she is. It is only logical to assume that we are not the only place for half-bloods in the world because there is no third pantheon of gods," Chiron said gravely. We didn't look at each other. Even Hunter understood how serious this was.

"No," Cora whispered.

"It seems to be the only -" Cora cut Chiron off by standing up.

"No," she said more firmly. "I don't care if that's what makes sense. But, I – I just know that's not true. It can't be, I just know it," Her jaw was set, her eyes had a dangerous edge to them.

"My dear, you can't know that for sure. You -" she cut Chiron off again.

"I do know. I can just tell. I just – AGH!" she let out a half scream and stormed out. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Chiron sighed.

"Go and carry on with your normal schedule. We need to give her time to calm down; besides, it's dinner soon. She can't go too far," Chiron instructed us, repeating it in French for Hunter. We walked out silently; the air was heavy with our unspoken thoughts.

We were half way to the pavilion when the conch horn sounded. Everyone arrived quickly, somehow the little incident at the arena had leaked. Everyone was talking about it, and looking around for Cora. But she was nowhere to be seen.

Before dinner had actually started, I told the Stoll brothers part of the truth. So they knew she was out and need to cool down. The promised they'd sneak some food for her. If they went through on that, I couldn't tell. They were master thieves.

After dinner we had our campfire. We sang all the classic songs. And before we went back to our cabins, Chiron reminded us that tomorrow was Capture the Flag. The whole time Cora was missing, but I didn't worry. She could take care of herself; besides if you ignored the discovery in the Big House, it was almost like a regular camp day.

**A/N: Quick little thing, I have a facebook account – for this account. Find me there as "Huntress of the Sea". It's a page**


	12. We Play Capture The Flag

Cora: We Play Capture The Flag

Last night I had stormed out of the Big House. Yeah, real mature, but I knew in my heart there was no other camp! So I was angry. I was veering towards to woods – again. But the horn for dinner sounded. I didn't feel like facing everyone. Instead I noticed an old, nearly dead tree with limbs bending to nearly touch the earth. I jogged over to it, and hoisted myself up onto one of the thick lower branches.

I curled up in a ball there, letting tears fall from my eyes. I was absolutely miserable. I closed my eyes and let my thoughts leave me. For most of the night I heard music, voices, and laughter. Eventually it fell silently. I opened my eyes, the moon was nearly overhead. The creamy, silvery light bathed my face; it made me feel like I was almost glowing myself.

I dropped down from the tree and ran as silently as I could back to cabin 11. I slipped inside quietly and kneeled by my borrowed sleeping bag; I found a plate of food. There was a note next to it, it read:

_Cora, Percy explained you were upset. We got some food for you so you don't go hungry. Hope you feel better soon. Conner & Travis._

Gods, what had Percy told them? I sighed; quickly and quietly I ate the food they left for me. Then I climbed into the sleeping bag. Sleep came slowly, but eventually it did.

The next day, no one asked me where I had been. Thankfully, everyone treated me like any other camper. Hunter tried coming up to me but I ignored him and kept away. I didn't want to talk to him.

Chiron still believed that I was from another camp. So he had me do more 'specialized' activities. Such as metalwork, art, and so forth. I guess I did okay, for the most part, but my heart or mind wasn't really in it. I was spaced out most of the time.

Right after dinner Chiron announced: "Campers! Tonight is Capture the Flag! Cabin 3 currently holds the laurel!" Every camper but the Ares cabin cheered. Percy was grinning like a maniac. I realized that his cabin was cabin 3.

Chiron continued. "The Athena and Poseidon cabins are leading the blue team. Ares is leading the red team! Blue team in the west woods, red team in the east woods! The creek is the boundary line! I will serve as referee and battle field medic! Please no maiming and killing! Now, Heroes, arm yourselves!" He raised his hands and the tables were covered in armour and weapons.

Everyone started suiting up. I didn't bother; I had my own shield and sword. I'd be fine on my own.

Turning to Conner and Travis I asked. "Uh, which team are we on?"

"Blue team of course," Conner said.

"We always go with Percy and Annabeth," Travis added.

When everyone was ready we split up and followed Percy and Annabeth into the woods. The red team didn't look so easy, with the Ares and Hephaestus cabins; as well that Jason guy, that kind of worried me, he seemed like he could rival Percy in a fight. As we entered the woods I noticed the Hebe cabin was with us. Oh gods, I'd have to talk and get along with those four now. I really wasn't ready to deal with them yet.

We all stopped somewhat close to a giant pile of rocks . . . and I think poop . . .. When we got there Annabeth and Percy started giving orders. They sent about half of the campers on border patrol. Including the Hermes cabin. I was about to follow when Annabeth called me back.

"Cora wait, I have a special task for you," She told me. I groaned inwardly. I walked over, and stood silently while they finished instructing everyone else. About thirty or forty campers were left with me, Annabeth, and Percy.

"Okay guys, this is the plan," Annabeth said. "All of you except for Marise and Alex will be splitting into two main groups. These groups are our main strike forces. One group will head around the right flank, the other the left. You'll distract as many red's as you can. Go, and wait for our signal."

Everyone went off, except the two Annabeth had named. I realized that one was the Alex girl I had met yesterday.

"You two are going to guard the flag," Percy told the guards.

"Where are you putting the flag?" Alex asked looking around and smiling a little too much.

"We're just about to figure that out," Percy replied. "We have to place it somewhere they wouldn't expect it; they have Jason and Leo working together." I didn't get how that would make things too different.

"Ever think of sticking it up in a tree?" I muttered to myself, blurting out the first thing that popped into my mind.

"What?" Annabeth asked staring at me.

"Nothing."

"You said something, what was it?"

I sighed, "I was just thinking out loud. I wondered why you don't just hang it in a tree where no one can get to it easily and it's partly concealed." Annabeth considered the idea.

"That's actually a good idea. But how do we get it in a tree? We can't fly," she mused. I got an idea.

"Pass it to me," I said. Everyone looked at me strangely for a moment. Then Percy handed it to me. I took it and looked at the surrounding trees.

When I saw one with high branched yet sturdy and reachable and visible limbs, I backed up a few paces from it. I sprinted forward and at the last second jump onto the side of the tree. I walked up the side a few steps then grabbed a branch and pulled myself onto it. Using the other branches I climbed up a little higher. I draped the flag over a solid branch and scrambled back down. When on the lowest branch I dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch.

They all looked at me; hey, I'm agile. I gave a half glare.

"Great job. Now, you are going to get the red teams flag," Annabeth said. I stared at her.

"What?" I asked. She had to be joking.

"You are getting their flag. You're going to go through the trees," she explained.

"What do you mean? – Did Chiron tell you about yesterday?"

Annabeth smiled secretly and gave a slight nodded. "Okay, you go in the trees and get to the flag by climbing through them. Me and Percy will be nearby in them too; probably going a little slower. That way we can distract them if they spot you. You then return to our side of the creek with the flag. Got it?"

I nodded, glad the Demeter cabin was on our team. She had come up with this plan with me in mind.

We climbed into the trees. I was in front. Annabeth was behind to my right. Percy was on the other side. Chiron sounded the call and the game began. Percy gave our team the signal; a high shrill bird call. I darted forward.

I stepped from branch to branch as quietly as I could. I heard cries and the clash of metal below me. After a minute of running (if you can call it that) I crossed the border. I saw the cabin patrol fight off some reds. Thankfully they didn't notice me.

I kept going. The forest was silent beneath me, not even a monster. A few minutes later I found the red teams flag. It was on a tall rotting tree stump. The guards weren't looking. Carefully I lowered myself so I was sitting on a low-hanging branch.

Hooking my legs on the branch, I lowered myself upside down. Within a moment I was hanging upside down directly above the flag. I hoped they didn't notice my hair, it was falling around my head like a bright cloud. I stretched out my hand. Slowly I grasped the flag and started inching it upwards into my hands. Once I had it I curled myself upright.

Balancing carefully I swung my legs onto the branch, stood up, and started walking back towards my team's side. I was only a few yards away when I heard shouts on the ground behind me. I knew that they found their flag stolen.

I started running as fast as I could while keeping quiet. A yell from the ground and campers were swarming underneath me, which meant they had seen me. Or the trees moving . . .

I kept going, the flag squished into a bundle in my left hand to keep it out of the way. A _TWANG! _sound came from somewhere. I felt an arrow whizz behind me right by my face; just missing me. The close momentum from the arrow threw me off balance. I teetered for a moment on the branch, and then fell forward.

Immediately I reached out and grabbed a smaller branch. Using my momentum I swung forward, one-handed, and landed on the ground. How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A couple campers looking for me were startled, and then they charged me.

Quick as lightning I whipped out my dagger and parried their swords. I heard more coming; I had to get out of here! Dodging the campers attacking me and slipping my dagger away, I sprinted towards the nearest tree. I jumped onto the trunk, and then bounced right off to another. Landing higher I pulled myself onto another branch like a monkey. Still running towards the creek I noticed almost the entire red team was trying to get me down. Thankfully one of the people not there was Jason - because I had heard he could fly.

Campers shot arrows, threw javelins, and basically did everything they could to get back their flag. I avoided them all with ease. I felt great, this was so much fun! I was running at top speed, for being in trees. I glanced down, I saw some blue team campers holding back the red team.

I saw the creek up ahead of me. But a majority Ares cabin was down there; including Clarisse with her electric spear. I saw that the span between the trees on this side were too far from the trees on the other side. There was a free fall straight into the creek and Ares cabin. Not something I liked the sound of.

When I got to the edge of the trees, I don't know what came over me.

Without thinking, I leapt. I felt a tug in my gut. Very faint, but at that moment, the water in the creek surged up; creating a giant mountain of water, halfway across the creek. I was falling, but not into the creek or Ares cabin, onto the water. The water felt solid. I balanced on the ball of my foot for a second; then jumped off and landed on my team's side in a crouch.

The team exploded into cheers. Percy and Annabeth - as well as Jason who I guess they had been fighting - dropped down beside me, they looked confused. Everyone else was grinning and cheering. The flag in my hands burst into colour.

It was no longer the gaudy red flag; but a bright patchwork of colour. Small squares of different colours with symbols. Chiron appeared in front of me, with a curious expression. Then suddenly everyone gasped. All of them were staring at me like I had dropped from space. I didn't understand what they were looking at.

I felt a tingling above my scalp, and unless I was hallucinating, a green glow. Looking up, I saw a shimmering green trident, swirling with energy. I gaped open mouth at it. The entire camp was speechless. Slowly it faded away. Chiron folded his front legs and knelt. Everyone followed his cue.

"Hail Cora, Daughter of Poseidon."

I was in shock that it meant my father had claimed me. In shock that I knew who he was. It also meant I would be moving into a cabin . . . with Percy. I had found my father.


	13. I Get A Sister

Percy: I Get a Sister

I couldn't believe my eyes. Cora had just been claimed; by my dad! This meant he broke the oath twice! Cora was in complete shock. The flag dropped out of her hands. I walked over to her, putting on a smile the best I could. She looked at me bewildered, she had the same expression I had probably worn when I got claimed; all those years ago.

The rest of the night past in a blur. It was mayhem, another big three child, no memory, pretty much won the game herself. Chiron calmed down the camp the best he could; sending us back to our cabins and saying that was enough for tonight. We all headed off back to go to bed, Cora following me silently.

Once back in my (I mean _our_) cabin, she walked over to a bunk at the back and collapsed. I knew she wasn't physically that tired. I flopped on to my bunk and lay there for a minute just trying to wrap my mind around the fact I had a sister! This was the most shocking thing in my life - which was saying a lot.

Eventually I got up to change for bed. I looked over and saw Cora was asleep. Her eyes looked wet; I wondered what had been going through her mind. I sighed and got ready for bed. When I fell asleep, I ended up having my first dream in months.

I was in Hades' throne room. Hades was looking angry. Nico was standing off to the side, out of the way of his father's pacing. Hades was telling Nico something. It was a moment before I could make it out; he was talking a little fast.

"- very important! You have to go to that camp!" Hades instructed.

"But father you said . . ." Nico was trying to say. I still can't believe how different Nico looks from when I first met him, back with his sister in Westover Hall. Nico is 16 now, but most of the time he still has the same happy, childish personality he did when he was 12. In fact, I still sometimes felt like strangling the kid like I wanted when I first met him. Nico's eyes were intensely dark, and he had wavy dark brown hair. He still spent most of his time with his father in the Underworld; although not as much since Gaea captured him.

"I know what I said! But now things have changed! You have to go there soon!" Hades roared. I wondered what he was talking about. Then my dream changed, I was underwater.

I was in one of the rooms in my dad's palace. I was looking at my step-mother Amphitrite, and my step-brother Triton. Well, that certainly was odd. They both had a look of calm fury on.

"It will happen soon," Triton said.

"It will not appease him, you know that my son," Amphitrite replied, a slightly evil look in her eyes.

"It must happen," Triton said more firmly.

"We must prevent it for as long as we can."

The dream then spun and faded. I woke up abruptly. I found daylight streaming in the cabin. Cora's face was above mine looking grimly concerned. I sat up clutching my head. I had forgotten how much some dreams hurt your head.

"You looked like you were having a seizure," Cora told me sitting hard on her bunk.

"Oh, well thanks for waking me up," I replied. She shrugged and curled up hugging her knees.

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked suddenly. I looked at her in surprise.

"How did you know I was dreaming?" She shrugged again.

"You were asleep and were acting strange. It wasn't too hard to figure out," she muttered. "You also talk."

I laughed nervously. " I know. How are you feeling?" Another shrug. I looked outside and noticed it was almost time for breakfast. I got an idea. "Hey, after breakfast I'm going to introduce you to someone." COra looked a bit surprised at that.

"Who?"

"You'll see. Come back here after breakfast," I said with a small smile. Hesitantly she returned the smile.

Breakfast passed quickly; thankfully because everyone was staring at Cora. She was really nervous the whole time. It made me wonder if she had had a dream as well. We didn't talk too much; we didn't have much to say.

When we got back to our cabin, I couldn't wait to send the Iris-message. Cora sat down absently tapping her feet. She wanted to know who I talking about, but she wouldn't admit it. I opened a window and when the mist from the re-installed fountain hit the air a rainbow shimmered into existence. Pulling out a golden Drachma I tossed it in and said, "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow – and Fleecy. Accept my offering." It disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Show me Tyson," I requested.

The mist faded into the image of Tyson forging a something. He must be having some spare time; since he could only go to the forges when he wasn't with the Cyclops army.

"Tyson!" I yelled at him. He paused and looked around. When he saw me his face broke into a huge grin.

"Percy!" he exclaimed.

"Tyson, hey big guy! How are things? Seen Ella?" I asked, smiling. Tyson just has that affect on people.

"Things are good! Even better since no more war! Though I haven't seen Ella . . ." he said.

"Too bad about Ella, but great otherwise! Tyson, you'll never guess what news I have!" I told him. He looked at me happy, but confused. Peanut butter was in his teeth again.

"Really? What?" He asked. I took a deep breath and glanced back at Cora.

"We have a sister!" I said. Tyson looked even more excited now; his single calf brown eye going huge.

"We do?" he said amazed, a little loud.

"Yeah, she's right here. Want to meet her?" I said almost laughing. He nodded excitedly. I turned around and motioned for Cora to come over here. Slowly she stood up and came over. She wasn't finding the I-M weird.

"Um, hi," she muttered.

"Tyson, this is Cora. Dad claimed her last night."

"Hello! It's nice to meet you! I'm Tyson!" he practically screamed, smiling like a little kid.

"It's nice to meet you too Tyson. Wait, where are you?" she had a faint smile as she said this.

"I'm in the forges! Near daddy's palace!" Tyson explained.

"You're underwater?" her eyes widened. He nodded proudly. Something about this fact seemed to make something click in Cora's head, but she didn't seem to know if it was good or bad.

"Okay," I said. "Sorry Tyson, but I just wanted to introduce you guys so you wouldn't be surprised so we should probably go. And you probably want to get back to making your . . ." I glanced behind him. "Shield. We'll talk later, 'K?"

"Okay! Bye Percy! Bye Cora!" he waved. I slashed my hand through the mist, cutting the connection. Cora gave a small sigh and sat back down. Only then did it occur to me she hadn't reacted to the fact Tyson was a Cyclops. I looked at her curiously.

"So let me get this straight," Cora said. "We have a half-brother who's a Cyclops, who spends his time forging weapons and armour underwater?"

"Pretty much, unless he's with the Cyclops army. He's a general in it," I explained, "Or if he's with Ella who's a harpy and a good friend." Cora looked at me, but didn't say anything; just lay back on her bunk. I suddenly got a strange feeling, that something wasn't right. "Maybe we should contact dad," I suggested quietly. It took her a moment to actually hear what I said.

"NO!" She shrieked bolting upright. The look on her face was fear. She hadn't even looked nervous when being attacked during Capture the Flag. Now she looked almost terrified.

"Why not?" I frowned.

"Just – just don't," she pleaded. "I have a feeling it would only make things worse."

"Alright," I promised her. She noticeably relaxed. "Come on, let's start our classes." She nodded and we headed out.

The rest of the day went normally. Aside from the fact I was completely un-used to having a sister. But it was fun, Cora was amazing at everything. Fighting with her was great, it was a challenge even. A real challenge and she had such a unique style. She fought like she was both Greek and Roman _and _she fought fast. To tell the truth, those were the moments she looked truly happy.

I took her to visit the stables. Blackjack liked Cora immediately. They both got along great. Which I found a little creepy, since he was _my _Pegasus. Well, not really, but still.

When the day was done, I was feeling great. Cora was happy and sad. But I let it pass as nothing just because it had been her first day and she was obviously still trying to remember her old life - whatever it had been. When I fell asleep that night, I felt like everything was going to change. At dinner I had seen Hestia in the flames again. I knew she wanted to tell me something.

I wish I had known that that would be one of the closest days to a normal one as I'd get. At least, for the time being.


	14. I Meet Death Boy & the Oracle

**A/N: *claps hand excitedly* This is my first chapter of new content for The Lost Goddess! And ironically it's the chapter where . . . well you'll see. *giggles* this is awesome! I still have to do my script (I've learnt I should **_**not **_**be a riddle-maker) but this is awesome! I am updating this – my favourite book! My goal is to finish it this year, I am sure I can do it. Enjoy!**

Cora: I Met Death Boy & the Oracle

My first day of knowing who my father was . . . that was almost fun. But it made me think, and it made me long to be alone to settle my thoughts. Which I followed through on. If me and Percy didn't have either time at the stables or the arena or canoeing, I would go off on my own. Percy didn't mind, he understood why.

The first time I went off I went to the lake, that didn't work out. The Naiads decided to annoy/torture me. So I gave up on going there to think. I had to find other places. Sometimes I would climb on top of cabin 3's roof; other times I would climb a tree. Once I went on top of the Big House; but then Chiron yelled at me so I had to leave . . .

Mostly I went up in this huge oak tree. It had to have been one of the oldest in camp. It was the best, the leaves hid me from people, and it was in an isolated spot; facing the sea – which calmed me down. Though quite often I was never alone.

I was always off hiding, yes, but someone always found me. That someone was Hunter. He would often come find me. There wasn't much else for him to do, and it was better than going around in a fog of confusion. He'd just sit with me in comfortable silence. Sometimes we would talk about nothing in particular. It made me feel so much better, knowing that I had a real friend. We both felt the same sort pain to a certain extent; no one else truly understood us and we both had secrets.

Once, Hunter actually found me in the woods crying. I'm not saying my reason – that's a little personal (and it was embarrassing). But I was crying. Hunter didn't say anything to me; he just wrapped his arms around me and let me cry into him. I thanked him afterwards, feeling like an idiot with a hot face, but he said it was fine and it was the least he could do for someone like me. I knew we both were confused by our messed up lives.

So I would hide and think. But not always alone, and that happened every day. At least, for a little while.

It was, I think a week since my arrival at camp. That was when things changed. I was in my usual tree. I was curled up staring at the sea. Hearing a rustling sound, I looked down. Hunter was partway up the tree. The expression on his face told me something was going on.

"Hey Hunter," I greeted.

"Hey . . ." he trailed off, looking distracted. I frowned.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Rachel arrived. Chiron wants you to talk to her," he explained.

"Uh, who's Rachel? Kind of new here."

"The Oracle, you'd – you'd better come."

I shrugged and started down the tree. I had taken off my jacket because it was hot, so I had to pause to grab it. When I turned around, Hunter had a strange expression. Probably since it was the first time I had actually taken off my jacket and muscle on my arms were slightly visible (yeah, I'm a strong girl). I pulled my jacket on, readjusted the sleeves to my elbows, and started going to the Big House with Hunter. I wondered why Chiron wanted me to talk to the Oracle. A prophecy didn't seem like such a good thing right now.

Part way there we ran into Annabeth. She had a distant look in her eyes. When she saw me she seemed to get jarred back to earth.

"Cora, where were you?" She asked me.

"Uh, I was out . . ." I mumbled.

"It doesn't matter, you'd better come. Percy wants you to meet Nico before Rachel, he arrived this morning," she told me. I sighed, so that was what? Two people I had to meet today, gre-at.

"Oo-kay," I replied. Annabeth walked off towards the Commons. I followed her and Hunter followed me. When we got there I saw Percy talking with someone in front of the Hades cabin. Did that mean this Nico guy was a son of Hades? I only spotted them because Percy glows (seriously, he does. I don't care if you can't see it).

We walked up to them. Percy turned around, blocking the guy behind him. A strange tingling in the pit of my stomach started to form. The base of my skull pounded.

"Hi guys," my brother said. "Cora, meet Nico di Angelo." Percy stepped aside, showing me Nico.

I just stared at Nico. The base of my skull erupted into a frenzy. Nico had dark, mysterious eyes; with messy dark brown hair and olive skin. But I had seen him before. I recognized his face, he was about a year older than me, and I knew I had met him before. I had seen glimpses of him _somewhere_; or someone who looked like him (but I doubted that). I had a vague impression of heavy rock. My head swam.

"I – I know you!" I half yelled half stuttered. "I swear I've seen you before!" Nico was staring right back at me, my complete shock mirrored on his face. Everyone was dead silent, looking back and forth between us.

"What – what do you mean?" Percy demanded. "Are you two okay?"

"I've seen her before . . ." Nico mumbled.

"What? Where?" Annabeth exclaimed.

"At – at dad's palace – when I first joined him down there in the winter. I only just passed her though . . . but she's . . ." he trailed off. My mind whirled with thoughts. He just said he saw me at his dad's palace; but that would mean the Underworld. Why had I been there?

"Why . . . ?" Percy shook his head in disbelief. "So, you know my sister from seeing her in the Underworld, and you've never mentioned her? I am so going to strangle you this time!"

"I never really met he!" Nico protested. "I recognize her hair though. I - I just thought she was one of Persephone's handmaidens . . . Otherwise I would have mentioned it," Nico explained. Annabeth looked back and forth at us critically.

"_Di Immortales. _Let's go Cora, you need to meet Rachel. _Now,_" she told me. I gave slight nod and followed her. The boys walked after us. Percy looking confused, lost, and angry; Nico looking shocked and confused. I noticed Hunter looked confused and a bit upset . . . Why? Because no one was telling him what was happening?

I followed Annabeth into the outskirts of the woods. Eventually we came to a cave. There were dark purple curtains covering the entrance emboldened with snakes, with torches on either side. The place had a mystic, eerie buzz in the air. It seemed to say that an ancient force was here. (Great, more random feelings from a crazy girl).

I heard voices inside, one sounded like Chiron. The other was some girl's voice, she sounded like a carefree, happy person. Maybe that girl was Rachel, the Oracle.

Annabeth pushed aside the curtains and we all walked in. My only thought was _what the . . . _The inside did not look like something you'd find in a cave. It was stylishly furnished, a bed at the back, with a couch and chairs in the front. The middle was dominated by easels, and worktables, and all sorts of things in an artist's workshop.

Chiron was standing a little ways in. He was facing a girl. She looked about the same age as Annabeth and Percy. She had frizzy red hair (I don't mean to sound vain, but mine was brighter), and bright green eyes. She was wearing jeans that looked like they had been attacked with a fork and maker pack. Little holes and squiggles were everywhere. Her top was a big sweatshirt with some museum's name on it.

Annabeth and Percy both went up and hugged the girl. I could tell they all went way back.

"Hey Rach," Annabeth said. "How are you?"

Rachel shrugged. "Aside from dad wanting me to go to some university, things are great." She looked happy to be here, it made me wonder what she was escaping from.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Percy told her.

"I'm glad I'm here too," she laughed. "So, Chiron told me that you have sister." Her remark didn't come out as a question, but it was there. Was it just me or was everyone blowing the fact I'm Percy's sister way out of proportion?

"Yeah," he replied. Rachel walked around him to see me. When she saw me, she gave a small smile. Her eyes told me she was a little confused, but aside from that, she looked happy enough.

"Hi, I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle. What's your name?" she greeted. She offered me her hand so I could shake it.

"I'm Cora," I told her. I reached out and grabbed her hand. As soon as I did, her face froze and she doubled over like I had punched her. Percy and Annabeth rushed over to support her, grabbing a stool for her to sit on. I blinked and took a step back in surprise. What had I done?

**A/N: How was it? You guys hate the cliff-hanger ending? Probably. Lemme know! Not sure when I can next update... bye!**


	15. A New Tale Started

**A/N: Praise the gods of Olympus; my files here finally cleared a little and MY COMP GOT FIXED! Yeah, I bought a mortal one and it's been one break after another. Hate it. It actually got fixed two days ago and NO ONE told me. I am going to be punching people in a bit, but you finally get your chapter! Enjoy**

Percy: A New Tale is Started

Me and Annabeth led Rachel over to a chair. Cora just stared, confused and lost. If I hadn't known what was happening, I would have been. No one had expected this. Chiron was looking a little worried. Nico and Hunter both had a face that said _what the Hades?_

When Rachel straightened up, her eyes were glowing serpent green. We knew what was coming, when she did speak, her voice sounded tripled, overshadowing a heavier rasping voice. In the voice of the Oracle she rasped:

"_Child of Power, Born of the Sea,_

"_Holds great power to the Key,_

"_Life or death, within her grasp,_

"_Must soon make a decision fast,_

"_To her heart an endless battle,_

"_But true peace to end the lattle."_

Slowly the glow in Rachel's eyes dimmed and her body sagged as she returned to herself. She blinked and looked around.

"Are you all right, my dear?" Chiron asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. That was . . . intense," she said shrugging it off. You have to give her credit, not many people are good at that.

"You've got to be kidding me," Annabeth muttered sitting down next to Rachel.

"Uh, should we go get the cabin leaders? Or anyone else for the matter?" Nico asked.

"Not yet, but Rachel and Nico go and wait in the Big House. I wish to talk to Cora and her friends alone," Chiron instructed. Nico nodded glumly and walked out. Rachel stood up and walked calmly out. I still marvelled at how she doesn't mind.

I sat down with Annabeth on the couch and squeezed her hand. Cora remained standing; she had a scared, yet determined look on her face. Hunter was standing behind her, glaring after Rachel and Nico. And I had a feeling it wasn't anything to do with Rachel.

We all were quiet. Chiron was probably waiting for Cora to speak, since it seemed the prophecy had been directed at her.

"That wasn't supposed to happen; was it?" Cora said eventually. Chiron sighed.

"No, the Oracle has only ever spoken if Rachel is asked a question. Never from a touch," Chiron told her.

"So what does this mean then?" she asked

"I'm not sure," Chiron admitted. "But it disturbs me, as well as some of the lines." I sighed, this was purely insane.

"Chiron, this sounds like things for a meeting," I pointed out.

"Not all of it. The first line, 'Child of Power, Born of the Sea'. I believe Annabeth has some insight on that," Chiron said.

"I do?" Annabeth asked. Chiron nodded. Annabeth thought for a moment. Then realization dawned on her face. Which is good, since I had no idea what Chiron was talking about.

"What are you all talking about?" Cora questioned. She looked pointedly at me, and I could only give her a shrug.

"Cora . . . when you arrived here, the fight that happened, well, we think you're the one who ended it," Annabeth told her. I looked at her, what did that have to do with anything?

"What do you mean? I was just scared then," Cora protested.

"Well, no, we think you might have somehow . . . exploded them. You sent out a wave of energy," Annabeth admitted.

"You're crazy," Cora decided. Her expression said she didn't want to listen to what was being said.

There was a moment of silence as Chiron looked between all of us; between my worried expression, Annabeth's thinking one, and Cora's scared but somewhat stubborn one (though mostly scared). Chiron sighed. "Anyway, let us go down the Big House. Annabeth, Percy, go and gather all the other cabin leaders," Chiron told us. We nodded and went off to the Commons.

When we got there, the first person we ran into was Clarisse, at first she acted hostile, but when we finally explained, she knew the severity of what was going on. Instead of going off to the Big House, she walked to the middle and started yelling. Yeah, we had meant to keep this quiet; but Clarisse and her big mouth were shouting to everyone about an emergency meeting.

When we did gather all the leaders, we headed off to the Big House. We had Piper from Aphrodite. Leo from Hephaestus. Jason from Zeus. The Stoll brothers from Hermes. Clarisse from Ares. Katie Gardener from Demeter. Will Solace from Apollo. Castor from Dionysus. Then there were all the minor gods leaders; who sadly, I can never remember all their names. There are way too many of them. Plus all the Roman Centurions.

We all trekked over to the Big House. Chiron, Rachel, Nico, Cora, and surprisingly Hunter, were all waiting for us in the war room. Really it was us sitting around a ping pong table. No idea why, but that had officially become the unofficial place for meetings of cabin leaders.

We all sat down, and the table was extremely crowded now. Chiron remained standing at the head, Rachel was beside him. No one here but those who were present at the speaking knew what had happen. Just that there was a meeting and a new prophecy.

"Attention!" Chiron said over everyone else's voices. Gradually we all quieted. "We have a new prophecy." Everyone groaned.

"So another quest?" someone asked. A few people looked pointedly at me and Annabeth.

"I believe there must be," Chiron admitted.

"So what exactly is the prophecy?" asked Conner Stoll. Chiron glanced at Rachel. She cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"This is the prophecy," she said. "Child of Power, Born of the Sea; Holds great power to the Key; Life or death, within her grasp; Must soon make a decision fast; To her heart and endless battle; But true peace to end the lattle." Everyone was silent for a minute, thinking over the lines.

"What does lattle mean?" Travis Stoll asked eventually. Annabeth opened her mouth to respond, but Katie Gardiner beat her too it.

"It means to the end of your days. Or end of the millennia," she informed us. I thought for a moment.

"So basically it's saying true peace until the millennia is over," I said. Everyone who already knew the meaning nodded.

"Well, the prophecy has to be for you Percy, it says born of the sea," Will Solace spoke up. I shook my head. Everyone's face morphed into confusion.

"The prophecy was made to Cora," Annabeth intervened. "It clearly is her prophecy, her father is Poseidon too." A couple people muttered uncertainly, well, it's not any of ours faults.

"You punks are all missing one important fact," Clarisse growled.

"Oh? And what is that?" I asked her sourly. She glared at me before replying.

"The prophecy doesn't tell you where to go," she pointed out. Hmm, I hadn't even realized that.

"Just because it's not stated outright doesn't mean we don't know where to go," said a quiet voice. We all looked over. It was Cora; her eyes reflected a fierce determination, as well as mild fear.

"What do you mean child?" Chiron asked her.

"Well," she started. "Even though the prophecy doesn't say where we should head, doesn't mean we have no clues. There are different ways to know things. One way - the prophecy - won't tell us, but a second way might." Now she had confused me.

"Uh, Cora, what are you talking about?" Piper asked her. Cora gave a small shrug.

"It's hard to explain, but it's a bit like knowing through a feeling, an impression. I can't describe it. Percy and Jason, you two get what I mean, right?" she said, looking at us hopefully. Jason nodded and so did I. I sort of knew what she meant.

"Nevertheless," Chiron interrupted, bring our attention to the impending doom. "Cora, do you accept this quest?"

Cora hesitated for a moment, "Yes." A few people let out a breath. Seriously, this didn't even affect them.

"Very well, you are allowed two companions," Chiron told her.

Cora drifted into thought. I couldn't think why, no doubt she'd bring Hunter, then probably me, since I am her brother. Her green eyes flitted from me, Annabeth, and Hunter. She thought for several minutes. I started to get worried. Then, nervously, she said, "Annabeth and Percy." Okay, was not quite expecting that. Even Chiron looked surprised.

It took him a moment to speak. "All right then, Annabeth, Percy, do you agree?" Chiron asked us. We both agreed immediately – Annabeth was a bit surprised. I glanced at Hunter, he looked extremely upset. All he knew, was something had been decided and he hadn't been named.

"You three shall leave tomorrow at dawn. Top of Half-Blood Hill. Meeting adjourned," Chiron told us. All the other cabin leaders walked out, a few wishing us good luck. Both Chiron and Rachel and Nico left as well.

Cora was still standing and staring out the door remorsly. It was probably from not bringing Hunter - they had become friends. She took one quick look at us, and I saw that she was slightly upset and worried; then she spun away and ran out the door.

I looked after her, sighed, and put my arm around Annabeth. Today was going to be a long, long day.

**A/N: So? *excited face* What do you think? I want to know! Needs editing, I know, and yes I made up a word, I know. This was kinda crappy in some sections ... I finally added to this in my now 168pg file! Got into the groove. Then I was sent to bed and lost my whatever-you-want-to call it. My mojo? No idea. Anyways, tell me what you thought in any way possible. And like me on facebook! I'm serious; I'll start replying to reviews there if you like me! Also, I (hopefully) will be getting an interview soon. My friend has youtube (and was popular till people found her in real life!) and will be doing an interview with me. So like me on facebook and you can see it! That's all. Until later!**


	16. An Uncertain Journey Ahead

**A/N: Right, so since I have space, and this huge file of this book, I can update weekly! You'll like that, won't you? And you know what I realized? That in February ... marked the one year anniversary of The Lost Goddess ... gods I should hit my head. Then again people have taken ten years to write books so ... anyways. Enjoy! **

Cora: An Uncertain Journey Ahead

I ran out of the Big House, and looked at the leaving mass of campers for Hunter. I felt bad about deciding not to bring him with me. But I had a good reason, a selfish reason, but a good one none-the-less. I finally spotted him; he was running into the woods. I bolted after him.

I followed him in deeper and deeper; I was like a silent shadow. I didn't really pay attention to where he went until he stopped. He had stopped in the clearing I had run into on my first day. Why had he come here?

He sat on the ground with his knees drawn up looked horribly depressed. I took a deep breath and stepped out into the sun.

"Hunter," I called out. He looked over to me, his face hurt, and then turned so his back was facing me. Oh gods, what had I done? "Hunter, please," I begged him.

"I don't want to talk to you," he muttered. "Shouldn't you be planning for your quest or something?" I flinched.

"Hunter, will you please let me explain?" I stepped closer, he turned even further away.

"What's there too explain? You're going on a quest, and leaving me behind," he said.

"Please, don't be mad at me. I have a reason for not bringing you," I told him. He softened slightly.

"What's your reason?" he mumbled. I sighed dejectedly and sat down beside him. He still wouldn't look at me.

"Well, this quest might be dangerous, we have no idea where were going and -" I began, then a thought occurred to me. "Wait, did Chiron even tell you the prophecy since I never got a chance?" After a moment he shook his head. Mentally I did a facepalm. I recited the prophecy to Hunter.

"That does sound dangerous," he muttered.

"Yeah, and none of us have a clue as to what we're up against," I sighed.

"I still don't know why you won't bring me," he said sourly.

"The prophecy talks about someone's life hanging by a _choice, _Hunter. How do you think I would feel if you got hurt? Or worse, killed," I questioned. He shrugged. "I probably hate myself eternally," I said under my breath. He straightened up and stared at me.

"What?" Maybe I should have learned to hold my tongue . . .

"Never mind," I said quickly.

"You said you'd hate yourself," he had smirk on; I gave a half glare at him.

"I might have," I mumbled. "After all, you're my friend." For a moment we stared at each other, then Hunter gave a laugh and punched me lightly on the shoulder.

I grinned at him and shoved him back; soon enough we were laughing and pushing each other all around the clearing. It ended when Hunter tripped over a root and banged his head with a thump. He lay there for a moment looking dazed. I rushed over and bent down next to him.

"You okay?" I asked him. He looked at me sideways; no longer having a dazed expression. Then Hunter grabbed my arm and pulled me to the ground. I was caught off guard and in a second he had me pinned.

"I got you," he laughed.

"That was a dirty trick," I told him sourly, pushing him off and sitting up.

"You just won't admit I got you," he said. I rolled my eyes at him.

"You did not get me, you tricked me. It doesn't count. And I will never admit anyone got me because they can't, least of all you," I shot back.

Hunter raised his eyebrows sceptically. "Oh, why is that?" He was making fun of me.

"Because if I was actually trying, you'd be screaming." To be honest I had no idea if that was true, or even possible. It probably wasn't.

"Ha ha, you wouldn't do that."

I stood up and started walking around, wondering if I actually would if I had to. "How do you know?" I asked him, scared of the potential answer.

Hunter shrugged and stood up as well. I kept on walking around; I was suddenly full of energy. I had an odd feeling in my gut. After a few minutes Hunter stepped in front and stopped me.

"Maybe we should go, you're starting to make me nervous," he said quietly.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I'm just suddenly a bit hyper. I can't help it."

"A bit?" he asked sceptically.

"Okay, a lot," I admitted. "Guess I have the typical ADHD." He laughed and this time I joined in.

Just then water from the pond shot out and slapped us in the heads. Soaking both of us - well soaking Hunter. I dried up automatically (thanks dad!). I sent a glare at the pond, the Naiad was staying under. Suddenly, the water started to boil and froth around. I heard cries of outrage and shock rise up from the Naiad. I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing to loudly.

I looked away and the pond returned to normal. You know, it was very annoying not to be conscious of using your own powers. At that moment I heard light steps in the woods. A faint _clop, clop _sound. In a minute a satyr, Grover, trotted into the clearing.

"Hey you two," he greeted us. "What are you doing here? I thought there was a new quest." I quietly sighed; it was a bit annoying to have brother with an empathy link to a satyr.

"Yeah . . . you have that right," I muttered.

I got a look. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"No, everything is fine," I told him quickly.

"Uh huh." was all he said. Okay, lying to someone who could read emotions, did not work.

I cleared my throat. "Well, we'd better get going," I said. I turned away from Grover and started to exit the clearing, Hunter walked beside me. Immediately Grover followed us.

"Cora, I need to talk to you," He said. I glanced at the satyr.

"About what?" I asked.

"About how dangerous the quest will be," he replied.

I shrugged. "I know it will dangerous. We don't even know where we are going," I told him.

"That is true, but it's not the only thing. You don't realize how much of a monster magnet you are."

"Real comforting," I muttered, glaring at the ground.

Grover tried for a reassuring smile. "Don't take it in a bad way. I simply mean you're really powerful. You have the strongest scent I've ever smelt; which is saying something because I managed to find all the Big Three children. It's more than Percy or Thalia – or Nico who _stinks _of monster friendly places. A powerful scent can be a good and bad thing. I know you'll be able to handle yourself, but monsters will be attracted to you like bees to a flower. Just be cautious," he explained.

I nodded sullenly. "Anyway to hide it?" I said sarcastically.

"Nope, sorry."

I shrugged. "Not your fault," I replied.

By that time we had somehow managed to leave the woods. It was dinner soon, although we still had a while. Grover said goodbye and went off somewhere. I walked to cabin three as I explained the quick conversation to Hunter. I was honestly planning on just relaxing for a few minutes, but as I passed I glanced in the window. Percy and Annabeth were in there, and they're, you know, a couple so I decided to give them their privacy.

I looked away and quickened my pace. Awkward much. I didn't need to walk in on my brother and his girlfriend. Glancing around the commons, I suddenly had another idea to relax.

"Hey, want to play basketball?" I asked Hunter.

"Sure, and I will beat you," he replied. I rolled my eyes.

"Unlikely, I'll beat you instead," I laughed. He gave me a sidelong glance.

We took a court and started a quick game. Eventually it was dinner and we stopped, the score was tied.

We headed down to the pavilion and took our places. The quest was announced to the whole camp at dinner by Chiron. It didn't get the best reception.

The rest of the night pasted normally, even if a few people did glance as me with either fear or pity. I went back to cabin three alone because I didn't really feel like talking to anyone. Back in the cabin I was already half asleep on my bunk when Percy finally walked in.

"You ready for tomorrow?" Percy asked me.

"No," I admitted to him.

"That's normal," he said. "Hunter isn't still mad at you, is he?"

I shot up and stared at him. "What? Why would you ever say that? Did he seem mad? How would you even know? That makes no sense!" I said.

"Sorry." There was a pause. "Well, is he?"

"No."

"So you really not ready for tomorrow?" he asked again.

"Do I have to repeat myself? No I am not," I told him, looking down into my lap.

Percy gave me a reassuring hug. "I was younger than you on my first quest and I lived. You'll be fine. Believe me," he said.

Percy smiled and got ready for bed. It took me a minute before I smiled too. I crawled into my bunk and closed my eyes, I wasn't too sleepy. But I knew tomorrow was going to be a long day, and I was going to need every ounce of strength I could muster.

**A/N: Hunter's not coming . . . or is he? Expect the unexpected with me. But then if you're expecting it, it's not unexpected . . . so should you expect the expected? Yet then . . . I am not going through this loop again (one time I went through that loop for an hour). Anyways, let me know what you think whether it's through a fav an alert or a review. I don't care which! See you in a week!**


	17. I Get a Nice StepFamily

**A/N: I almost forgot about this! Why? I SAW THE FIRST TWO EPISODES OF THE LEGEND OF KORRA! Now I have to wait for more ... but the show is AWESOME! I love it! But it's sad about – erm. Maybe I should keep quiet for another week for fans who don't know you can find it online yet! Enjoy your chapter!**

Percy: I Get a Nice Step-Family

When I woke up in the morning, the sun was up, and so were a few campers. My first thought was, _Today is a quest, and I didn't have a dream. _Yeah, most of the time before I head out on a quest, I got some dream. I wasn't sure if not having one was a good sign or not.

I got ready, packing a few necessities in a backpack. Riptide was in my pocket; in the bag was a bag of Ambrosia, a canteen of Nectar, several gold Drachma's for Iris-messages, some Denarii just in case. And a spare change of clothes. Though in my experience, it would probably become torched . . .

I looked over at Cora; she was still fast asleep. I frowned, thinking it odd, normally she was up much earlier than me. Her face looked troubled. I walked over and shook her. No response, so I shook harder.

"Cora? Wake up!" I said loudly in her ear; probably shouldn't have done that. Her arm swung out and she jerked up confused. Her arm was swinging full force and when it hit me, she knocked me to the ground. The bang I made woke her up.

"What? Oh my gods Percy don't scare me!" she exclaimed swinging her legs out of her bunk. I groaned and stood up.

"I was just trying to wake you up," I muttered getting to my feet.

"Oh . . . well sorry I knocked you down," she said; then she gave me a smile. "I had a dream!" I squinted at her.

"How is that a good thing?" I asked her. Cora frowned and thought for a moment.

"I don't see how it's a bad thing. Especially when it gave us a place to start," she told me.

I looked at her uncertainly. "That's good I guess," I replied.

"You guess?" she raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged. Then someone knocked on the door, and, without waiting for an answer, Annabeth walked in.

"You two are late," she said. "Percy did you sleep in again?" I walked over to her.

"Come on Wise Girl, it wasn't me this time," I said. Annabeth raised an eyebrow at me then looked at Cora.

"Wow, has Cora finally learnt to sleep in? Careful, taking lesson from Seaweed Brain will cause problems," she said sarcastically.

"Oh I am well aware of that," Cora replied trying not to laugh. "But I didn't mean to sleep in."

"I can believe that, but come on. We need to meet up with Chiron," Annabeth told us.

After a good ten minute, when we finally did get organized (it was mostly me misplacing small things – and Cora being new and all), we headed to the top of Half-Blood Hill. Chiron was already waiting for us, along with Argus. Argus was going to take us into the city; from there we were on our own.

Annabeth had packed her own bag with necessities. Cora hadn't bothered, well when you had magic items like her, there doesn't seem to be much point; plus she was kind of clueless when it came to the mortal world. I know when I talked to her about it. Cora was wearing her bracelet/shield; and Her pouch had not only her normal items, but something else. I could only tell because it was noticeable if you looked closely. When I asked her she said it was for emergencies only.

As we said good-bye to Chiron the rest of the camp was doing their normal activities. We all still felt like this was going to be a more-or-less hopeless cause, but finally we were all ready to go.

We piled into the Camp's van and headed off into the city. Thankfully the drive into the city was uneventful, which I found a little surprising. Argus dropped us off at a bus station. It wasn't too far from my mom's and Paul's apartment.

We were standing around debating about where to go, when Annabeth had a sudden thought.

"Percy, did you ever even tell your mother and Paul what's happened? Or that you're going on _another _quest?" she asked me. I almost smacked myself in the head. I had completely forgotten to contact her; sometimes I was the worst son.

"Oh gods, no. I really need to remember more often," I said. Annabeth smirked, of course she remembered everything.

"We should go talk to her. Am I right Seaweed Brain?" she continued. I nodded and we headed down the road to the apartment. Cora just followed us; I almost had forgotten she was there.

When we arrived at my parent's apartment, I half felt like this was a normal day and I was just stopping to say hi. If you ignored the fact I was on a dangerous quest. I knocked on the door and it was answered by Paul. He blinked in surprise at seeing us.

"Percy? Annabeth?" He looked back and forth between us. "What are you two doing here? And who is that with you? You'd better come in," he said, his eyes wide with confusion. We followed him inside to the living room. "Sally? You'd better come here." After a minute my mom walked in. She saw me and her face grew into a warm smile. Then she frowned, because normally I never leave camp.

"Percy? What are you doing here? Why aren't you at camp? Is everything okay?" she looked tired; probably up late.

"It's a long story," I told her. She gave me a sad smile.

"Come on, we should all sit down."

We all arranged ourselves in the kitchen. Cora looked completely out of place; she was clearly uncomfortable, staring at everything with wide-eyed fascination. My mom got us all lemonade, and blue cookies.

"So what are you two doing here? And who is this girl?" she asked us. I glanced at Annabeth who nodded encouragingly. I took a deep breath.

"Mom, this is Cora. She's my half-sister," I told her. My mom's eyes widened in surprise. This was going to be a long morning.

Eventually we did explain everything to my mom and Paul. It took a while but we finally did manage to tell them everything. I explained about the quest, Cora's amnesia, the prophecy, the claiming, everything. My mom looked a little sad at the fact that Cora was also a daughter of Poseidon, because of the way Poseidon always talked about and treated her, but it wasn't any of our faults.

After everything caught up we decided that us demigods had better leave. Cora, Annabeth, and I all headed out and started walking around New York. We were mostly wandering as Cora was explaining her dream. She still thought it was good news.

She told us her dream was her's and mine's stepfamily discussing about how to aid our quest or something to that effect. They had been talking about heading to one of Manhattan's docks. Apparently they didn't say which one, just a northern one. Cora told us that we would supposedly receive help there, as well as guidance on the quest.

I was a little unsure about trusting it all. Dreams were either true, or used to manipulate half-bloods. And manipulation was something I could imagine Triton and Amphitrite doing to us. Eventually we all agreed to do what it said. Partly because it was Cora's quest and partly because she was extremely stubborn and her eyes got a dangerous edge to them when we kept arguing.

The three of us started wandering the northern side of Manhattan for the right dock. So far most had had shipping boats, the odd fishing boat, party boats, and maybe a yacht or two. It was a long and tedious search - all three of us thought this. Even I could tell this wasn't working out. And normally I took a long time to reach the near hopeless stage.

* * *

It was reaching well into the late afternoon when Cora suddenly broke into a run. Annabeth and I looked at each other before chasing after her. Cora ran until she hit 2nd Avenue, and she was fast. She hit the road and stopped suddenly and looked around confused.

I caught up to her slight winded. "What was that about?" I asked her.

She furrowed her eyebrows and glanced around. "I thought I . . ." she trailed off and shook her head. "Never mind."

"Did you see something?" Annabeth asked.

"I was mistaken, just forget I did that," she muttered. I glanced at Annabeth who was staring at Cora and thinking. Cora was still glancing around. I took the chance to look at where we were. The three of us were beside another dock. I scanned the murky water because I had a feeling we were being watched.

I stared harder at the water. One are started to boil, and then out rose the spirit of the Hudson. Well, only partly, his lower half was still submerged. He raised his hand and beckoned to us. I nudged Annabeth and pointed.

"Is that the spirit of the Hudson?" Annabeth questioned.

"Yeah, what do you think he wants?" I replied. She shrugged.

"Only one way to find out."

We all walked over to the spirit of the Hudson. He looked slightly annoyed at us.

"Finally, I've been waiting all morning," he told us sourly. "Cora, good to see you're okay." At that I whipped my head over to look at Cora. She was staring at the Hudson like he was insane.

"Uh . . . What?" she managed.

"Hm, right forgot about that," the Hudson muttered.

Cora made a strangled sound.

"Um, can we help you?" Annabeth asked him.

"Bah, if I had my way, I wouldn't be the messenger. I was just ordered to tell you your ride's here," the Hudson said; then he sank into the oily water. New York river spirits still got on my nerves. We all looked at each other baffled, and then went back to the task of looking at the boats.

About five minutes later we came across a different kind of boat. I couldn't tell if it was a sailing ship or a yacht. It looked like both. It was tied up at the end of the wharf and painted on the prow of the ship was a sea-green trident. Well, if that wasn't the right boat I didn't know what was.

Attached to the railing on the prow was a scroll. Annabeth pulled it off and unrolled it. The message was written in ancient Greek. I could make out what some of the words were. They looked smudged, like the scroll had been dropped in a puddle. Annabeth looked like she was having some trouble too, which was never good. Cora looked like she could read it just fine. She took the scroll from Annabeth and began reading out loud.

"The letter says: _To the young Quester's: This vessel is to aid you as you journey north. The northern military unit will hold an answer. Follow the clues that will be revealed there. They will guide you. From, Amphitrite & Triton,_" she recited. She stared at the scroll for a moment before rolling it up and holding it tightly in her hand.

We thought about the words for a minute. It was strange that we suddenly got a boat and were told to go north. No explanation, just BAM! you're heading north. I got a bad feeling, to far north and we would be beyond the land of the gods.

"Well, what do you two think we should do?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm not sure. It doesn't sound like something they would do," I said. "Though sending us far away and out of their power to dangerous land does make me rethink that . . ." I added under my breath.

"Mm-hm." Cora looked nervous, as if scared to be out of the gods' power. She bit her lip. "I have a feeling they're not doing this for us," Cora said, "but for someone else." I glanced at her, she looked disturbed.

"So do we take it?" Annabeth asked us. I shrugged, it was either going to work or going to fail.

"We might as well," Cora sighed. "We don't have much else to go on." I think she meant to say that last bit to herself.

We all climbed aboard the boat. I walked up to the tiller while the girls untied us from the wharf. Closing my eyes I concentrated on the water lapping against the hull and the swaying of the boat. The right word formed in my mind.

"Rutterstat!" I said. The boat's engine started to hum and it started to respond to my body. Slowly, we back out of the dock and went off along the Hudson River. As we reached the Atlantic Ocean, our speed picked up. I hadn't wanted to do that.

I looked over to see Cora standing beside me. She looked like she was concentrating fiercely; her eyes were narrowed slightly and she was biting her lip. She was controlling the boat as well! Cora blinked and looked over at me.

"There's a northbound current 35 degrees starboard," she told me. I gave her a weird look; I sure can't tell where currents are and stuff like that.

"Oo-kay," I muttered.

"You have no idea what I mean, do you?" she asked raising an eyebrow. I didn't have an answer to that. I should have appeared smarter and said yes I did know what she meant, but the real answer was no. Cora gave a small proud smile. "I'll just take us there."

The boat slowly moved sideways. Then it hit the current. There was a lurch as we got caught in the current. Both of us knew we were heading north, so Cora and I just let the boat drift.

The three of us went exploring below deck. There was a main room with bunks built into the wall, an adjoining bathroom, and a small kitchenette that was full of food.

When we finished looking around and exploring everything the sun was starting to set. We were still going swiftly north in the current. So we all ate, since we had barely eaten, and crashed in our bunks.

I was extremely tired by this time. Controlling a boat all day did use up energy, even with my sister to help. I thought about how it was my stepfamily who gave us that boat. They despised me. Maybe they were learning it wasn't such a bad thing children of Poseidon were alive . . . only the gods could know. But I lay down in my bed and I fell asleep, thinking that that quest would be easier than most.

**A/N: Lots of rewording . . . What do you think? Let me know whether through review, alert or fav I don't care! Just let me know! Right. Okay. Going to go and work on my other books ... If I'm lucky, I'll be a published author next year! Bye!**


	18. I Am Such a Fool

**A/N: I feel stupid, I almost forgot. Why? Well, I am desperately trying to find time to finish chapter three of **_**Birthed by British Waters **_**so I can post it, and get onto my own book. I may be published in a year! So anyways, I remembered to update – so here you go! Oh, and someone said that Percy seemed freaked out when Cora lashed out - not true. He was just surprised because he didn't know of her defense mechanisms. Yeah ... you surprise Cora awake, she attacks you. Percy just didn't know.  
**

Cora: I Am Such a Fool

The second day of our boat trip could have gone better. We didn't actually get attacked or anything – which was odd, considering for the most part I was sitting on the prow. But we accidently came to a fishing boat and there was a mythical creature as well as a dolphin that had gotten caught. I was going to shoot at it and cut the net, but my brother had other ideas. He just drew Riptide and dove off the side. Percy did save the creatures, but we had to wait for him to come back up _and _explain to the fisherman we hadn't done anything. That kind of delayed us a lot.

The rest of the time I was sitting around thinking. Okay, so when I suddenly broke into a run, I had thought I had seen someone. I thought I must have been hallucinating from stress; because who I thought I saw, it couldn't have been. As well as I felt like we were being watched. Not by the gods (they probably were though) but by someone else. It was weird.

Anyway, the quest really seemed to begin on the third day. Somehow we all managed to sleep in, which was odd for me since I didn't have a dream. It was about noon or thereabouts when I woke up. The first thing that hit me was the noise. It sounded like cars and shipping freights. That was the first tip-off something was wrong. Then next I noticed Percy was up and heard him swear from above deck.

That woke Annabeth up too. She looked at me and I gave a half shrug. Then we both ran out. It took me about thirty seconds to figure out where we were. Somehow the boat had turned from the current and off the sea and had done so in less than a night. Now we were on the _St. Lawrence _River.

I scanned the shore. To the south was the USA; to the north was Quebec City, Canada. What in Hades name were we doing here? We were way off course! Percy was just standing and watching the shore. I went up and whacked his shoulder (it doesn't really hurt him) to get his attention.

"What's going on? How did we get here?" I demanded, confused and upset this had happened.

Percy gave me a small shrug. "I have no idea. I just woke up a minute ago and here we are," he said.

"Someone's messing with us," I muttered. "We need to get out of here." I looked around; we first needed to turn around. Percy nudged me and pointed, we were on a collision course with a dock! But . . . we weren't going the same speed. We were slowing down. Without us meaning to, the boat docked and the ropes started to tie us up on their own.

Then my day got even weirder. That annoying voice popped up in my head again; it had been a while since it had last voiced itself.

_Go, _it coaxed in my mind. _You will find something here. Go. _I started to smack the side of my head absent-mindedly, because it left an echoey feeling. Percy looked at me kind of startled; Annabeth walked up and look at me like I was insane.

"Uh, let's just go . . ." I said. Annabeth and Percy talked with a look at each other and shrugged. They ducked back below and grabbed their bags. While they did so I swung myself over the boat's railing and onto the wharf. The dock was a shipping dock. Full of freight ships and other transport ones. We stuck out.

Quickly the three of us walked out of the shipyard and into the city. The first thing we come to were the ruins of the old fortress and city. They were on the edge of the river. Well, they weren't really ruins, but it wasn't all intact. I got a chill on my spine walking among them, like ice was running up and down it; something was wrong.

Percy nudged me. "So, what are we looking for?"

I looked around. "I'm not sure . . . for some reason we're wanted here," I said quietly.

"Whoever wants us here must have some important reason," Annabeth said.

Percy looked at the fortress suspiciously. "The only question is what reason."

I turned away from the ruined buildings and looked out towards the river. My eyes flitted around to all the tourists. There were many, it was the beginning of summer after all. Everyone was taking vacation - and then there were the three half-bloods on a dangerous quest.

I saw one person, far away so they were just a tiny figure, smaller than an ant; but I still distinctly saw the person look in our direction, then run away into a group of people. In a moment I lost sight. I blinked, confused, and turned back; suddenly I was conscious of how noticeable I was. Annabeth and Percy were looking around some old building. I walked back to them, a bit confused.

"Uh, are you guys looking for something? Did Percy drop something?" I asked. Percy glared at me and I flushed red while shrugging – he did tend to drop things while distracted.

"I heard something," Annabeth explained. I nodded and then scanned the area. Somehow I knew we wouldn't find anything here. Whatever the sound had been was gone. I glanced up at the fortress's walls, the barrior overlooking the water.

On an impulse I started walking silently on the path leading up there. Something was lurking up there. I could feel it in my gut. I heard Annabeth and Percy stop looking and follow me. I barely glanced back at them, instead I let my senses lead me up. I climbed up the tourist stairs and eventually I reached the top of the wall.

"Cora, what is it?" Percy asked.

I stopped dead and looked around uncertainly. "There's something here . . ." I murmured.

At that moment a low growl emitted from below us, ringing through the air, along with a hissing sound, a bit like laughter. More and more of the sounds joined in. Annabeth, Percy, and I instinctively moved back to back. Annabeth drew her knife and Percy uncapped Riptide; I reached into my pouch and pulled out my charm. I slowly slide my thumb along it and my sword shimmered into existence.

Then they came.

There had to be over a hundred. They clamoured up the stairs or jumped onto the ledge. Hellhounds and Dracaena started to swarm towards us. With a deafening sound they attacked us with all fury; howling and hissing and growling. All three of us slashed and hacked our way through them. I spun my sword in deadly arcs, but it seemed that the more we killed the more that came up. This made us slow to defeat them.

Suddenly in the middle of the battle the monsters backed off and it was almost calm for a moment. Then the majority of the monsters regrouped and charged me. Either it was because I (apparently) had a stronger scent, or I was a bigger threat. High chance it was both.

I used every advantage I could, but it wasn't easy. Some part of me was reluctant to attack, as if I wasn't used to actual killing. My silver sword stabbed and slashed. I heard more hisses and growls beneath me. It hit me, of course! That was why they kept coming; they had been hiding below and behind the piles of ruined rocks.

More monsters went to attacking me. Because of their numbers, I slowly was backing up to the wall - and there was limited space on the ledge. Unfortunally I was being backed up to a destroyed section of the wall, so it was well below my waist. One hit to close and I'd probably tumbled down. And it was oh, more than six-stories straight down onto rocky ground.

The monsters suddenly stopped attacking me directly and took to trying to knock me off balance. They were strangely smart. I dodged and struck back the best I could, but there were so many of them. Dracaena formed a tight ring around me and I had to focus on blocking, only getting the odd chance to stab.

A Hellhound leapt from the ground over top of all of them, to come directly on top of me. It was about to pounce on me when I leaned back and thrust my sword up into the monsters neck; disintegrating the Hellhound into nothing but golden dust. Gods, I should never have done that.

The second I killed the Hellhound, I felt a tremendous blow on the back of my legs. It pulled them out from under me and I had been closer to the wall then I realized. My sword flew out of my hand in my surprise as I lost balance. I didn't even have time to react.

In a flash there was no ground beneath me and I was falling beside the wall. It flew by in a grey-brown blur. I did that only thing I could – scream. I didn't scream long, just one ear-shattering sound, then the breath was ripped out of me.

Everything blurred as I fell, I was sure I would fall and become a grease spot on the ground. I had no idea how close the ground was. I couldn't make sense of what I felt. Suddenly I felt a shock on my back and knees and I jolted to a painful stop. I had landed unharmed somewhere. During the fall I had squeezed my eyes shut, and now I blinked them open.

I stared in complete and utter shock at the person who had just saved my life. I couldn't speak I was so surprised, all I got was a squeaking sound. He set me on the ground gently. I didn't get a chance to say a single word, before I felt a tingling in the base of my skull.

I managed to whirl sideways just in time to see the base of a spear swing in line with my head. Instead of the spear butt hitting me; I saw it fly right into the forehead of someone I wished it would never happen to.

The boy flew backwards and landed in a heap. My heart all but stopped and I screamed. Blood trickled down his face thickly. I darted to his side, tears rising in my eyes and threatening to overspill. It couldn't be happening! I had tried to prevent this from happening, yet it had happened anyways. This just couldn't be happening to me. I cradled his head and lost it.

I crouched there crying, looking into the unconscious and bloodied face of Hunter.

**A/N: *hides behind shield* DON'T KILL ME! I only tell what happened! And he was only gone for one chapter ... I just realized that. I wrote this, like over a year ago. So tell me what you thought through a review or fav or alert just DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE! *scrunches further behind shield***


	19. We Save My Sister's Only Friend

**A/N: I keep on nearly forgetting! Stupid me. Oh well. Here's the chapter – I know you all want to kill me after last week's so ... please don't! Here's this week's chapter, hope you enjoy it. And because I'm kind of crazy, I have random little side/non-existent pieces to some of my fanfictions on deviantART. So search, like, Water Fright or Before the Storm under literature to find my stuff (I am author KatieDOP). Anyways, here's the chapter.**

Percy: We Save My Sister's Only Friend

Me and Annabeth were frantic after hearing Cora scream. But we still had problems of our own. There were still several monsters. Surprisingly, the monster seemed to stop fighting back, not even bothering to really defend. We finished them off in less than five minutes.

Once finished, we ran over to the part of the wall where Cora had fallen over. Looking down, I was almost sure we'd see her unconscious or dead or broken on the ground. Instead we saw a few more Dracaene and hellhounds prowling around the ground; they were circling a golden dome of energy. They were circling what was basically a giant, golden force field.

I could vaguely see a crouching figure and a figure sprawled on the ground underneath the dome. The crouching figure I assumed was Cora, the hair was a dead giveaway. I had no idea who was sprawled. I looked at Annabeth, she gave me a nod and we swung ourselves over the wall.

We carefully climbed down the slick wall of stone. It was made so it couldn't be climbed, which made it quite a challenge. We slipped and saved each other at least a dozen times. The last few feet were covered by creeping plants, so we had to jump. I went down first and Annabeth dropped down beside me. Then we went to work on the monsters.

It took almost no time at all. When we both were finished we sheathed our weapons and walked over to the force field thing. It was a little hard to make out definite details inside it because everything was caught up by a goldenish haze. But unless I was mistaken - Cora was crying. First tip-off something was really, really wrong.

"Cora!" I called. She didn't move, but I could tell she had at least heard my voice. "Cora, let us in! Put the wall down!" I didn't want to try touching the thing because I had the feeling I'd be electrocuted or something.

It took what felt like forever, but slowly the force field faded away into nothing. Hesitantly, as if it still might have been there, we walked up to Cora.

She was actually _crying, _full out crying. And if I had learnt one thing form living with her at camp, it was that she did not cry in front of people. If she cried at all. Worried out of my mind, I looked down at the boy lying unconscious. I caught my breath. It was Hunter. Well, that did kind of explained the crying.

I had no idea what had happened to him, or how he got here. I did know we needed to get out of there. More monsters could show up, and it was even more likely now that we were four half-bloods.

Annabeth stepped over and squatted beside Cora. She put her hand on Cora's shoulder. Cora glanced up then looked away. Her eyes were red and puffy. I left Annabeth to comfort her (I was still very bad at doing it . . .) and bent over to check on Hunter. He had received a nasty blow and it was bleeding heavily, but if we cleaned the wound, kept him warm, and make sure he remained still to prevent worse blood loss - everything should be fine.

I nodded at Annabeth to let her know he would be okay. She gave a weak but more confident smile to me and turned to Cora.

"Cora," she whispered.

She sniffled and hid her face. " W - What?" Cora sobbed.

"Cora, Hunter is going to be fine. Please, calm down, you don't need to cry," Annabeth said. Cora gave a sound and looked up at us through tear-blurred eyes. She looked like a mess.

"W - Why shouldn't I?" she asked holding back more tears. "He followed m - me. The idiot, it's my fault he came. I - I should have . . ." she trailed off into more quiet sobs and pressed her hands over her mouth.

I watched her, feeling horribly sorry. "Shh, it's okay, calm down. We'll all head back to the boat and everything will be fine," I promised.

"B - But . . ." she hiccupped and scrubbed at her eyes. They were still red and she trembled, giving me the most guilty glance I had ever seen. Annabeth gently helped her to her feet and started guiding Cora back in the direction of the boat. After a few paces Cora stopped and looked back. If it wasn't for Annabeth I was sure she was going to run back and start sobbing again. I gave her the best smile I could and turned to the unconscious body of Hunter.

I bent down and lifted him up. He was surprisingly light. I walked back to the girls and we continued back down towards the boat. Cora kept looking at Hunter, and I saw tear trickling down her cheek.

We had only gone a little way down the hill when Annabeth stopped and looked out at the river.

I followed her line of sight. She was staring at a small boat; one that looked oddly familiar.

"That's our boat, someone cut it free," she said adding a curse in under her breath. I could have smacked my head; that was why I had thought it looked familiar. It was _our_ boat!

Which meant we were stranded in Quebec City.

"We have to find somewhere else to go," I said. Annabeth nodded, already thinking. We all just stood there, unsure where to go. Cora was starting to cry again, the cut on Hunter's head was still bleeding a lot. My arms started to ache from being locked in the same position.

Suddenly Annabeth snapped her fingers. "I think I know where we can go."

"Lead the way."

Annabeth turned around and led us back into the ruins. This time they really were ruins; broken down stone buildings, toppled piles of stone, rotting wood, and lots of pests. To be honest, I thought Annabeth was going to scream and freeze up due to all the spiders. But she didn't - must have meant she was getting over them a little. Then again, I did noticed her flinching a little bit so probably not.

Annabeth herded us into a mostly intact building; it just had a gaping hole in the roof and wall. That was better condition compared to most of the other building.

I carefully set Hunter down at the far end – where it looked less likely to crash down. Annabeth told us that she remembered reading a demigod had once lived here. You could find a demigod residence in almost any historic site.

Cora sat down silently next to Hunter; she had stopped crying - for the most part. Tears were still falling from her eyes and dripping down her face. I went over and tried to comfort her. She refused to allow me to talk though. Instead she pushed me away and watched intently as Annabeth cleaned the gash on Hunter's head with Nectar. It didn't heal up as much as I had hoped.

When done, we all sat down silently and slowly night began to fall. The sun set and we started a fire with the dead wood. Its glow created eerie shadows on us. The three of us were all exhausted, definitely ready to sleep.

I originally volunteered to stay up to keep watch, but it didn't quite work out like that. My sister had other ideas.

I was telling her to sleep while she shook her head stubbornly. "No, you sleep. I'll keep watch," she insisted in a slightly hollowed tone. Her eyes didn't leave Hunter.

"You've been through a lot today. You need to sleep," I told her.

She shook her head again. "I won't sleep anyways. I might as well do something useful," she said, a tear trickling down her cheek. I sighed and tried even more to persuade her to sleep. It was pointless. Cora absolutely refused to sleep. I grew sleepy and since Annabeth had already fallen asleep, I gave up.

I lay down next to Annabeth and closed my eyes. The last image I had before I drifted to sleep was of Cora in the background and Annabeth's beautiful face next to mine.

**A/N: *fiddles with shield* Um ... yeah. STILL DON'T KILL ME! Please ... I deserve to live! And if you kill me, then you'll never find out what happens. Right, so let me know what you think via review or fav or alert or whatever. Thank you, if like me on facebook (yes, I am crazy), I'm just going to say that you get news from me faster. That's all. Tell me what you think! See you in a week!**


	20. The Truest And Most Infuriating Friend

**A/N: Who got the Serpent's Shadow? Read it in 17 hours including sleep – LOVED IT, DIED, CAME BACK, DIED AGAIN, AND SMACKED THINGS. Yeah, awesome. Have you read it yet? You should! I have to update a day early since I won't be home for the weekend – my play is being preformed this weekend! So nervous since my play curse has struck again – every year I have some sort of casting issue. This year? Wasn't too bad ... until an actor got sick. I think Dionysus hates my plays. Anyways, that's why I am updating now. So here you go! ((This is why you should like my facebook, cut down on rants and explanations))**

Cora: The Truest (And Most Infuriating) Friend

I was going crazy inside. Hunter was here, next to me, unconscious and bleeding. I had been an idiot that first day on my quest. Now I knew it was Hunter I had seen in New York. I had thought I had been going crazy. Yet somehow he had snuck out, somehow he had followed us - followed_ me_.

I had finally convinced (more like wore down) Percy to let me stay up and keep watch. Even though he told me to wake him up later . . . that probably wasn't going to happen. I wasn't even really keeping watch. I was just sort of curled up staring into the fire.

The night passed by slowly. I wasn't doing anything so it actually might have been no time at all. I could see the moon up above in the sky. I watched its passage, rising to be above me. My tears had stopped a while ago, but they were threatening to fall once again. He just looked so_ lifeless_. This mess was my fault.

I was growing sleepy and having to pinch myself awake when I heard a small sound in the dimness. Just a small rustle and a faint cough. Immediately I was alert as I sat bolt upright and looked around. Next to me there was shadowy movement. I held my breath; I had to have fallen asleep. I must of been dreaming.

Limbs shifted and moved, as if being tested out. I watched in silence, sure it was an illusion brought on by trauma and if I moved I'd ruined. But slowly Hunter sat up looking dazed, eyes glassy, and very much real.

Without thinking, I let out a squeal and threw my arms around him. Yes that was not like me, but I was happy he was finally awake! It was only for a second before I came to my senses. I immediately sat back, probably bright red - I hoped it wasn't visible in the firelight. Hunter blinked for a minute, rubbing the side of his head and looking around in confusion.

"Wh - what happened? Last I remember was catching you . . ." he mumbled fuzzily, focusing in on me. "And did you just squeal and _hug_ me?" I looked away, carefully wording my response.

"Um, no . . ." I said as nonchalantly as I could. "You've been out for most of the day." I turned my face back towards him. He was still rubbing his temples with an odd expression.

"Well, that - that explains why my head hurts and everything kind of shifts," he said.

I looked at him worriedly, "Um . . ." I grabbed Percy's bag and rummaged through it before pulling out an Ambrosia square. "Here."

Hunter took it without complain and ate it - thankfully not turning to ash (then I would have felt really guilty). The color returned to his face a bit more. "Thank," he said. "So I've been out for the day . . . that doesn't tell me where we are and what is going on"

I sighed. "You're sure you're okay?" I asked him, eyeing him worriedly. I was starting to lose the panicky worry I had been feeling and more of an annoyance at causing me to feel that. He nodded and I gave a faint smile which quickly faded.

Then I whacked his arm.

"Ow," he muttered rubbing it. "What was that for?"

"For scaring me!" I exclaimed. He blinked and looked at me, then gave a laugh. I stared.

"You? Scared? Never thought that would happen."

I rolled my eyes. He had the nerve to mock me? After what had happened today? He was just asking to get smacked again.

"Please, me scared? I was just . . . worried. That's all," I retorted. "You just came up out of nowhere!"

"But you . . . oh never mind. It's hopeless arguing with you," he said shaking his head. His eyes still looked a little unfocused.

"Got that right," I smirked. "Now tell me, what in Hades' name were you thinking? Were you just going to follow us the whole way? Because I did see you in New York, and now I know you were the person I saw looking up at us when on top of the hill." Hunter cringed a little under my look. I wondered what my expression was, because it must have been scary.

"I don't know . . . I just did it. I didn't want to be left behind. I had thought about coming up to you but . . ." he seemed to have no real answer. My spark of anger faded.

"Look, I don't want to fight about this. You did save my life after all. And to tell the truth, I'm a bit glad you're here. Beside, you're awake, which I think is a miracle itself," I said quietly. He looked at me and smiled. Hesitantly I smiled back.

"You looked so much nicer when you smile," he murmured half to himself. Once he realized he said it, his face grew red. I raised an eyebrow, my face also feeling hot.

"Oh? What's that's supposed to mean?"

"That you sometimes scare me."

"I think I scare everyone," I replied. Hunter shrugged, and looked up at the sky.

"I guess that's true. Uh, what time is it?"

I frowned, and then gave small shrug. "Not sure, sometime after midnight I guess. Couldn't say," I told him. Hunter tilted his head and looked at me.

"After midnight? Cora, how long have you been awake?" he questioned. I blinked taken aback; did it really matter?

"Since I woke up. Why?" I said.

"So, why are you up?" he asked.

I sighed through my nose and gave an annoyed look. "Who are you? My guardian? I was concerned about you, sorry if I wanted to make sure you were okay," I muttered. He laughed gently and moved closer.

"I'm just your friend who thinks you look exhausted," he said. "You should sleep." I shook my head.

"No, you just woke up. I'm not going to sleep now. What if something happened? If you're still dizzy and monsters attack then - well - I don't know! You don't know how you looked before," I argued.

"I'd wake you up if anything happened. I'm not going to kill myself," he said earnestly. I took a deep breath and looked into the fire.

"Promise?"

"You think I wouldn't?" he said quietly. "I promise, okay?" I looked back at him.

"Fine, I'll go to sleep. But make sure to wake me if _anything _happens," I muttered, slightly annoyed. Hunter just smiled at me.

I layed down and closed my eyes. I heard shuffling, and after a minute or two I felt compelled to open my eyes. I looked over and Hunter was watching me. He gave me a look that seemed to say _'well? are you going to or not?'. _I rolled my eyes and curled up. Closing my eyes again I felt safe for the first time since the quest started.

It took a while, but eventually I did manage to fall asleep. Knowing in my gut that everything would somehow end up all right. My sleep was calmed because of that thought. I had my friend(s), brother, and I was sure I would be okay. So I was thus lulled to sleep.

**A/N: He's okay! I am not evil enough to kill off IMPORTANT characters. Maybe minor ones, but not someone as big as Hunter! So yeah, you have to wait to see what happens! Gods, I realized I have, like, five maybe six chapters in Quebec ... awkward. I feel like I'm promoting my own country. Oh, and the Toronto Nome is NOT destroyed. Everyone just died ... ((Kane Chronicle reference)). So let me know what you thought of this chapter whether it's via review or alert of fav I don't care! Let me know! Bye! **


	21. We've Screwed Up, Again

**A/N: Know where I am? At my cottage! Best part? It's warm enough to go ... ready for it? ... SWIMMING! That's right; the lake water is warm enough to swim. So basically for the weekend I'm up here, I'll be living in a lake. Best time ever. Anyways; I know all of you are happy Hunter is okay and now I will let you read on.**

Percy: We've Screwed Up, Again

Sometime in the hours between midnight and dawn; I woke up. See, I had anticipated that Cora wouldn't wake me up, so I made sure that I woke myself up. And what I did see when I woke up, I had not been expecting.

Instead of Cora sitting there awake, like I thought, it was Hunter. I was shocked to see he was awake. Annabeth must have done a great job on that gash. He looked perfectly fine, maybe a little muddled, but fine. Then with a chill, I thought about Cora. I doubted she would be asleep if he had woken up. Yet there in the dim firelight, I saw her lying on her side. Actually sleeping.

I realized that she had either been 1) forced too. Or 2) been convinced. I doubted it was the first one, since Cora could not be forced to do anything she didn't want. Believe me; I only made that mistake once back at camp and that turned out bad. That left one option . . . and the only way to know the answer was to ask the French kid.

"You – got – her – to – sleep?" I asked Hunter, extremely slowly, gesturing the best I could to make my words clear. He looked up at me startled. I ended up having to repeat myself a couple times. But eventually he did understand in the end. I think.

"Oui," he nodded. "Je encouragé elle dormit. Tu vont garder la montre maintenant?" He used gestures as well. It took me a minute to understand. He had asked me if I was going to keep watch. I nodded for my reply.

He gave a grateful smile and lay down. I thought about the first thing he said, reworking the words to English. It had been something like 'I convinced her to sleep'. If that was true, it meant she was just being weird. Still, maybe I ought to have used him if I had to do a diplomatic approach with her . . .

I wasn't sure how much time passed exactly. I kind of spaced out and fidgeted around. The next time I looked up the moon was half down in the sky. I was bored, so you can understand I was surprised when an Iris-message appeared in front of me.

_Please deposit one Drachma, _said a pleasant female voice – it was actually Iris this time. I sighed and reached into my pocket. I thought I might have been the only demigod Iris actually has pay her (why, I didn't know. It was just how things go sometimes. I thought it was because of Fleecy). I tossed my Drachma in and it vanished in a golden shimmer. The mist changed and showed me the image of Chiron. I frowned, thinking this could not be good news.

"Hi Chiron, uh, is there a problem?" I asked keeping my voice down. I didn't think the others would like it if I woke them up. Especially since it was so early.

"Hello Percy; and yes you could say there is a slight problem. Two actually," he told, also keeping quiet.

"Really? What's happened?" I asked him.

"I'll start with the simpler one. That French boy . . . Hunter is name I believe, Cora's friend, he disappeared the same day you three did. I thought I should tell you, but I've been unable to contact you until now," he explained. I could have done a facepalm, we already knew about Hunter.

"Yeah . . . we kind of know now," I said. "We ran into him. And sorry you couldn't contact us, that's a bit of a long story involving a boat and some weird things. So uh, what's the other problem?" Chiron sighed.

"Of course that . . . any who, back to the other problem on hand. The gods are a bit angry. Now, not with each other. So do not panic, there is no impending war. They are more, disappointed, upset, anxious. Something is troubling them. I have made inquiries, but all of them refuse to talk about it. I do not know what is happening or why, but I must advise you to be on your guard."

I frowned hard, thinking fiercely. The gods angry? Again? I had no idea as to why. As far as I knew (which wasn't too reliable) there were no more ultra-horrible titans or giants or goddesses or monsters out there. At least I hoped . . . but things had been fine for the past year, so that must have meant things are fine.

"Well that's . . . strange. But what does this have to do with us exactly?" I asked.

"Because, according to Mr. D, who decided to turn up late last night, they have only been like this since you left," Chiron explained, making me groan in response.

"What did we do now?" I complained.

Chiron gave a shrug, "I do not know. Just beware." I nodded, leaving one last question.

"Okay, beware like always, and Chiron, why do you I-M me in the middle of the night?"

Chiron gave a tight, pained smile. It made it seem like he was sleep deprived. "Have you looked at the time Percy? It is six in the morning." Then he waved his hand through the mist; cutting our connection.

I blinked and looked out at the sky; the horizon was a little lighter on one side. Hm, more time had passed then I had thought. I sighed and leaned back against the wall. I'd worry once the others were up. But for now I'd be content to let them sleep and watch the fire as it flickered to embers.

It wasn't until the sun had almost fully risen that anyone woke up. Annabeth was the first. We didn't talk; she just crawled next to me. We cuddled and shared our warmth after the coldness of the night. Unfortunally, we had no food to eat except for our emergency supplies; which meant we'd have to figure it out later.

Hunter was the next to wake up, which was odd because he needed the most rest, even if he seemed fine. We ended up all sitting there in awkward silence. I almost wished he was still asleep. I didn't get much time alone with Annabeth these days. You know the camp rule about two campers, that really prevented it, unless we got really lucky.

Finally Cora woke up. She looked terrible; sad expression, eyes full of sleep. I couldn't blame her. After what she went through yesterday I could understand why she looked like that. She also looked nervous. I wondered if it was a dream. Or if it was something else - impossible to tell with her.

I took a deep breath. Time to tell them about Chiron's message. I cleared my throat to get their attention. Everyone looked at me, a little unsure. I guessed my expression gave a lot away. I took another deep breath and began.

**A/N: What do you think? What about Chiron's message? Let me know your thoughts, whether it's via review or fav or alert or anything I don't care! Just let me know! See you all in a week!**


	22. I Think This Is All My Fault

**A/N: This week's chapter! So I discovered something very important this weak . . . I have shoot really well WITHOUT a sight and BLIND (as in, with my natural very blurry eyesight). I got really good grouping and a surprising number in the gold. *ridiculous smile* and my school did a trip to laser quest for science; was my second time going and I did pretty well since I was totally going around all alone and not knowing how to do good. Anyways, enough random ranting about my life – enjoy your chapter!**

Cora: I Think This Is All My Fault

My night was restless. I might have slept soundly, but my mind was tormented. With what exactly, I didn't remember, it faded as I woke. But it did make me feel nervous, almost exposed, as if someone had been invading my mind. I probably would have sat there for while, trying to clear my head and shake the sleep out of my system; Percy had other ideas.

"Look, Chiron Iris-messaged me. His news was . . ." he struggled to find the right word.

"Depressing? Unfortunate? Bad?" Annabeth prompted. "Worrisome?"

"Yeah, that," he agreed. "Well, Chiron mentioned Hunter - that's no big deal now - and there's another problem." He paused, looked at Hunter, and then looked at me. I returned his look, confused.

I felt a nudge and Hunter whispered, "Um, what's he saying?"

"Oh, right, sorry," I whispered back. "He's talking about Chiron Iris-messaging him." Percy sent another look (seriously, if he kept doing that, I might have needed to interrogate him later) towards me before continuing.

"Right, well, according to Chiron the gods are angry. Well, not really angry. It's confusing, but their kind of . . . anxious. At least that's how Chiron put it. He advised us to be on our guard. Because apparently they've been like this since we left. At least, that what Mr. D said when he turned up yesterday. But -"

"Hang on," I said cutting him off. "Who's Mr. D?" I looked at everyone. They looked sort of guilty, guess they forgot to mention something.

"Mr. D is short for Dionysus, the god of wine," Annabeth explained. "He's the Camp Director; he's at Camp for punishment. He chased an off-limits Wood Nymph, so he's at camp for the next, 50 years; roughly. He was recalled to Olympus the day you showed up. He probably ticked off Zeus or Hera again." I just nodded. Despite what Annabeth said, why did I have a feeling that that had to do with me directly?

"Yeah, though I wish he stayed there," Percy muttered then continued on. "Anyway, Chiron said we need to be careful. We might not have too much good luck."

I quickly relayed this all to Hunter. Then I frowned, thinking hard (yes, unlike my brother I actually thought. Not to have been mean to Percy, but it was true, sometimes). I had an extremely bad feeling about all of this. Of course right then my stomach growled.

Annabeth, Percy and Hunter all burst into peals of laughter. I felt my face grow hot. Percy's stomach starting to growl right after that made up for it. His face turned red and I began to laugh. I thought we were all starved.

"So, who knows where we can get some food? Because we only have a few emergency supplies." Percy said. I shrugged, clueless, as did Annabeth. I told Hunter our problem, and I watched as his face paled and he nodded. I frowned; his expression did not encourage anything good.

"What is it?" I asked him. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. But, uh, I do know where to get food," he mumbled.

"You do?" I said skeptically, finding that a little odd.

"I did grow up here," he said. That surprised me, and it must have shown on my face because he gave a restrained laugh.

"Really?" I asked him. He nodded, still laughing a little. Then his stomach growled; causing me to smile.

Hunter stood up, swaying a little at first, and helped me up as well. Percy and Annabeth followed us as we climbed out of the ruined building. It was a little weird to be in the middle of a national historic site with a bunch of people already here.

We wound our way out of the site and into the city. Before we actually entered the city part, Hunter made me promise not to speak French, or let on that I understood everything. I didn't see much of a point in promising (I was still not aware of doing it) but I did in the end. Partly because I was so hungry I would agree to just about anything.

Me, Annabeth and Percy ended up waiting in some cafe. Hunter went off . . . somewhere. I assume to a bank because he came back and joined us with money. Two years at camp and he had a Canadian back account . . . a little strange. I wasn't going to question it though.

We ordered breakfast (I think I spoke in English . . . because I did try to stick to my promise) and finished in probably what was record time. After eating we quickly turned our talk to where we were going to head. Seeing as our ride had disappeared and we were deposited here by some spirit or god here. Annabeth pulled a huge map out of her bag (I think she carried everything for travel in there).

It didn't take long to figure out that the fastest way north would be heading over land. Then taking a boat (somehow) to the northern point. Which happens to be the most northern point in the world (thanks Annabeth). The only question was now getting there. And how things would go in the land beyond the gods.

Then Annabeth found a train track leading all the way to Hudson's Bay. That was great, there was a slight problem though. Getting money to afford it would be a challenge. And despite Hunter's miracle of getting money for breakfast; we would never afford it. I thought we were in a hopeless situation until . . .

"We could get a, uh, loan," Hunter said quietly. I looked at him confused.

"What?" I asked. I doubted any bank would loan teenagers money.

"I don't mean from the bank," he explained.

"Oh, that makes sense. But then how?" I said, still a little confused.

"Let's say I have relations," he muttered. There was a sad, almost scared look in his eyes. I just gave a small nod and didn't ask.

Hunter led us through Quebec City. And that city was hilly! Extremely hilly, most of the land you walked on was either uphill or downhill. It got tiring pretty fast. The city was pretty neat, but the mortal drivers were crazy and reckless, which kind of made an issue.

We wound up in front of a bright, large – almost a mansion – brick house. Before Hunter rang the doorbell, he made us promise (well, mostly made me) not to speak, comment, let on what was being said – anything really. When I asked why he just muttered that I'd see.

It took ringing the bell three times and knocking for the door to open. It was answered by a man around 40. He had light brown eyes, with hair that was a mix of blond and brown. His eyes looked on the edge of madness. Like something about to snap. He was clearly Hunter's dad, they looked very similar. But Hunter looked slightly different. Not just younger, and with different coloured eyes, but . . . cuter (that was _not_ me. That was the creepy voice!).

Anyway, Hunter's dad looked at all of us with curiosity. His eyes settled on each of us for a moment. But then clearly stared at Hunter. His face broke into a sunny smile.

"Hunter! What are you doing here? How are you? Is everything okay? Come in! Come in!" he exclaimed embracing Hunter before ushering him inside. Then he motioned for us to follow. He led us into a spacious living room.

"Hi dad," Hunter mumbled. "I know it's been a long time but . . ." his dad cut him off.

"It's been years! I was starting to wonder! Now who are your friends?" he was still excited. I wondered if he had a screw loose . . . probably.

"This is Percy, Annabeth, and Cora," Hunter said introducing us. Percy and Annabeth smiled when they were introduced. I did the same, hoping I looked like I was confused (like Percy was).

They started talking and Hunter's dad kept asking him random questions, making a bored expression not too hard to pull off. The only thing was I could feel tension and Hunter kept glancing at me. This was going to be an interesting visit.

**A/N: So? What do you think? What will happen now? *evil, knowing smile* I love having this entirely mapped out in my head! And don't you love Cora's creepy voice? It's so . . . odd. Anyways, let me know what you think – via review or alert or fav I don't care! Just let me know!**


	23. We Get Money From a French Man

**A/N: I am forcing myself to do this because I desperately want to finish the book I'm reading called The Scorpio Races. Anyone heard of it? I'm completely in love with it. I can't express how much I love it. Gods, I want one of the water horses, I also seriously want to meet Sean because he is the best horse trainer in the world! So I am ranting about this book, because I love it and I have a kindred spirit in Puck Connolly, and I love the horses and the racing and EVERYTHING about it. I – I simply LOVE it. Everyone's been saying it since I started reading the book. So ... just read so I can shut up and read!**

Percy: We Get Money From a French Man

It was a bit strange being in (what I figured was) Hunter's house. I mean my whole childhood I had lived in a tiny apartment. It wasn't until my mom sold that 'statue' that we moved to a bigger place. And even more recently, when me, my mom, and Paul moved into an even bigger one. One that actually had a lot of space. Anyway, Hunter's house was huge.

It was mostly gold and white. Which, judging by the way his dad was acting, did not reflect him at all. His dad was almost eccentric. Very high-strung, very excited. The look in his eyes reminded me of May Castellan; Luke's mother. It was like something was right below the surface, ready to snap. It made me nervous. Mrs Castellan had seriously scared me when I was sixteen. I wasn't sure what to expect.

We were ushered into a spacious living room. After we were introduced, Hunter and his dad started talking. I had no idea what they were saying, but since Cora's face looked bored, I figured either it wasn't important or she was an amazing actress. From what I had seen, Cora was not the best actress – she couldn't hide her emotions at all. Which meant they weren't talking about anything important.

Eventually Hunter's dad stopped talking to his son and turned to us. He shook our hands and introduced himself.

"Bonjour! Bonjour! Je m'appelle Pierre Benoit!" he exclaimed. So his name was Pierre . . . I could have laughed as the oddest thought struck me. That is Dionysus' second favourite name to call me. After Peter Johnson. Laughing would have been rude and confused even Annabeth, so I didn't. Turning back to Hunter he said, "Pourquoi sont vous ici?"

"Le papa nous sommes sur une quête," Hunter told him (oh, I officially stopped trying to translate. Cora stopped explaining things because she didn't like me knowing what she and Hunter talked about. I had a weird sister). Hunter's da - err, I mean Pierre's eyes widened in surprise.

"Vraiment? Pour quelle raison? Est tout bien? Pourquoi sont vous ici?" Pierre exclaimed, giving what was supposed to be a clap on the back. But it was a little too forceful. Hunter staggered.

"Uh, longue histoire. Nous sommes venus parce que nous sommes un peu courts sur l'argent . . ." Hunter mumbled quickly.

"Est cela tous? Mais pourquoi sont vous ici?" Pierre questioned. At that, Hunter looked uncomfortably at us. I guess his dad asked about the quest or something . . . but he clearly had no idea what to say. He gave us a pleading look.

Cora coughed to get his attention. Hunter looked at her for a second and she mouthed something to him. He gave her a small nod and turned back to his dad, who hadn't even noticed this exchange.

"Nous allons le nord," Hunter told him. They immediately started having a small conversation. I got bored and lost my attention, so did Annabeth. Cora, she struggled to not look interested. Her attempt at looking bored almost could have made me laugh. She just couldn't help but listen.

Eventually, Hunter turned back to us, a relieved smile on his face. He told us something hurriedly in French that I couldn't catch. Once he said it, Cora smiled too. I wish she would just tell us what he said.

"His dad said he'd pay for the train tickets!" she whispered to us. I did my best to look happy. But it was a little weird for a dad to help his kid financially on a quest. Then again, Pierre wasn't a normal person.

"Really?" Annabeth whispered back. Cora nodded quickly. Then Pierre walked past us and opened the front door. He sure was eager to see us off.

We all walked out and followed him as he led us through the streets. They twisted and turned and changed heights so often, I thought we had stumbled into someone's attempt to recreate the Labyrinth (I knew what I was talking about).

Finally we arrived at a train station. All of us were panting in the summer heat. Except for Cora, whose breathing was only slightly quicker than normal. That wasn't surprising, but it made me wonder all the more who she really was, and where she was from. Hopefully this quest would answer those questions.

Once inside, we discovered that the next train heading all the way north wasn't for another hour. Surprisingly convenient, which made me think someone was trying to help us. Pierre bought us our tickets going all the way north and we sat down in some chairs to wait.

We all sat in an awkward silence. Well, it was a little hard to not have an awkward silence. After all, two people spoke only English, two only spoke French – well one might have known some English - and then there was Cora who spoke every single language and couldn't let anyone know. Yes, we were all sitting in a very awkward silence.

It took what felt like forever (thanks ADHD) but the train finally did arrive. As soon as the announcement for our train finished, we all jumped up and went off to the flat. Okay, once the others told Annabeth and me we all went.

The flat was extremely crowded. Apparently a lot of people wanted to go north. Most were Indians, wait, no that wasn't it . . . they were called natives Americans. Most of the people were Native Americans, because there was supposed to be a reserve up there.

It took us a long time, but we did reach the train through the crowds.

As we were boarding, I couldn't help but see something out of the corner of my eye; Pierre was slipping cash in Hunter's pocket. Hunter's face was pale as we left. But he also looked relieved . . . strange. Maybe I should have tried to talk to him later. Ah, who was I kidding? That wouldn't happen.

We shouldered our way on to the train, and me and Annabeth grabbed seats next to each other. Cora and Hunter sat in front of us. They ended up sitting in a booth with a table, a stroke of luck. Only thing was, I thought Cora may have been glaring at me subconsciously; why did that seem to happen a lot?

It wasn't until thirty minutes later that the train pulled out of the station. We rolled forward, metal screeching as the engine started. It was actually nice on the train as we moved. It gave us a view of Quebec City, and then took us into more country landscape. I figured this wasn't going to be hard. This wasn't going to be too hard a quest. Or so I thought.

**A/N: We met Hunter's dad. That man . . . oh I'm not going to bother. Partly because if I do I'll have some of the world's most powerful demigods breathing down my neck ... I already have it enough, I don't need it any more. So you met his dad, who's a little strange. Anyone think "May Castellan"? I did when writing it. So I'm gonna go read The Scorpio Races now and finish it! So let me know your thoughts, through with fav or alert or review! Don't care how, just let me know!**


	24. Strange Train Ride and a Demon

**A/N: I love this chapter. Dunno why . . . I just do . . . I have the final book of the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel! I love it! It's been amazing so far! So enjoy your chapter!**

Cora: Strange Train Ride and a Demon

Well, the visit had certainly been interesting. Hunter's dad, I mean Pierre, was eccentric, full of energy, and almost to be called crazy. Anyway you got the picture. Although I did get the chance to learn Hunter's last name (I never asked since I didn't know my own). As the father-son conversation had progressed it had gotten increasingly hard to keep a plain expression. Seriously, if you had heard their conversation you would have understood.

As we boarded the train, Hunter had visibly relaxed. I mean, I could understand if he was like, embarrassed of his dad or something. But he had acted almost . . . frightened. I wanted to ask what that had been about, but I had had a feeling in my gut I shouldn't.

Anyway, the train pulled away from the station and began rumbling north. I was half excepting someone in the train to turn into a monster and attack us. Maybe that only happened on buses though (Oh, I should tell mention, Percy had told me his adventures. Which I had to admit, sounded pretty cool. Aside from the whole immortal-trying-to-end-the-world thing).

A voice gargled over the intercom that the ride would be four days; with a one day lay-over included. I turned around to tell Percy and Annabeth. Then I saw they were having their own conversation, so I let them talk. I'd just tell them later.

Sighing, I turned around and sank down into my seat. I suddenly started feeling hot, and judging by the look of other passengers, I wasn't the only one. I wasn't sure why, but I also felt like someone was watching me. I quickly scanned the passengers. No one was paying us any attention. I figured I must have had a weird look on my face because Hunter snapped his fingers in front of my eyes.

"What?" I asked him annoyed.

He shrugged. "You had an odd look on your face," he told me. I raised an eyebrow at him, trying to act indifferent.

"And how is that surprising?" I said.

"Because you looked almost . . . nervous?" why he stated it as I question I didn't know. I sat up straight and folded my arms.

"You're imaging things," I snapped. "Why would I be nervous?"

"You will never admit to anything, will you?" he said. I almost glared at him. But I didn't because it was probably going to be true . . . so far I hadn't really admitted anything.

"Don't count on it," I replied, smirking slightly.

"I won't," Hunter muttered rolling his eyes. I leaned back in my seat, half tempted to put my feet on the table. Random, I knew, but sometimes I just had weird urges. It was probably the ADHD I most likely had . . . figures.

I was considering how this quest was going to go when some strange man slid into the seat across from us. I looked at him coldly.

He had deeply tan skin, with dark hair matted into dreadlocks. His eyes were pitch black with red ringing the pupil and they were sunken into his wrinkled face. His clothes looked . . . old. I mean, not just were they traditional Native American clothes, but they looked like they were about a couple hundred years old. Stained, wrinkled, ripped, and patched. That pretty much summed them up. Needless to say, he was a little creepy.

I gave a wayward glance at him, then looked down and tried to not look uncomfortable. Hunter was doing the same thing. Unfortunally Percy and Annabeth were either 1) blind, 2) unable to see over us (which was impossible since they were taller) or 3) they were still oblivious to everyone but each other. My money was on the last one.

The man gave us a smile and I could have gagged. His teeth were mottled yellow and black. He leaned forward, a gleam in his eye. Why did I feel like that guy wasn't normal? Probably because he sure didn't look it . . . unless he was a _really _proud native.

"Hey, what's a couple of kids doing on a train alone?" he asked slyly. Kids? We weren't _that _young. I mean, he was questioning two 15 (I thought I was 15 . . .) year olds, but when according to Percy people didn't question 12 year olds? Another tip off that this guy was abnormal. I glanced at Hunter, since I had no idea what language he was speaking. Hunter was looking at him warily but with clear comprehension, so the guy was speaking French. Since he was looking tongue tied I figured it was up to me to reply.

"Just going to visit relatives," I lied. The man raised his eyebrows and gave another gruesome smile.

"You two don't look related," he commented. This guy just had to be observant, didn't he?

"We're . . . cousins," Hunter put in.

"Really?" he mused. "So you two are going north? Interesting . . ." We were on a northbound train and he called that interesting? Unfortunally he decided to continue. Looking back I wished we had just moved our seats . . .

"You two shouldn't be pawns of the gods," he said quietly to us. I glanced at Hunter then stared at the strange man, hoping it looked like I thought he was crazy. Instead the man grinned even more. "Aw, no point tryin' to fool me girl. I can tell a half-blood on a quest from a mortal a mile away."

I was seriously getting creeped out by this point. How did this man know so much? After this I planned on slapping Percy for not noticing. I would have slapped Annabeth, but that might have end badly. Percy was at least used to me whacking him (he somehow always managed to annoy me. Annabeth said it happened to everyone).

"We have no idea what you're talking about," Hunter told him. I nodded and scowled at the man. He just gave us another smile, flashing his gruesome teeth once more. Gods, I wished he'd stop that, it made me sick.

"Aw, come on kids, don't try to fool me. I can tell you're lying," he said. "Just thought you'd like to know you're little quest is a waste of time."

"We don't know who you are and you don't know what you're talking about," I said; part of me wanted to gut him, an instinct that came from somewhere I didn't know.

"You don't know why you're really out here, girl. Just wait; you'll see how dangerous the world is."

"I can believe it's dangerous. Just not the way you make it sound," I replied through gritted teeth.

"Don't sound so sure." Then he lunged.

His body changed; turning into a man made of flames. His hands reached out and wrapped around my throat. In and instant I knew what he'd do and I let out a strangled gasp. Without really thinking I grab my dagger from my belt and plunged it into the fire man's chest. Sadly, it didn't kill him.

My eye sight grew slightly fuzzy. Everything was tinged with red from the fire burning inches from my face. My neck was burning beneath his grip. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't because I thought my vocal cords were melting or something. I couldn't get in any air.

In the corner of my eye I dimly saw Hunter pull out his dagger and stab the fire man's back. I heard commotion behind me and I saw movement in the aisle. Celestial Bronze flashed dimly in front of me. My body was heating up even more, searing painfully, and my mind growing dimmer. My lungs were screaming. Any oxygen was being burned up. Spots danced in my eyes.

Suddenly in a brilliant flash the fire man disappeared; turning into a bright dust, and then vanishing in an invisible wind. I fell back against my seat; sucking in air as my body stopped burning in heat. The air felt blessedly cool, and colours blurred as they settled. For a few minutes I gasped and regained myself, but eventually I was feeling well enough to sit more upright and faced my friends.

Percy and Annabeth had settled themselves in the seats across from me. They were looking at me with concern. I drew a shaky breath and my throat burned. I coughed. My pain must have shown on my face because they looked even more worried.

Percy pulled out a canteen of Nectar and slid it across the table to me. I nodded my thanks and took a deep draught from it. It stung a little, but it did make me feel a whole lot better in the end. I put it down and looked apologetically at them. I mean, I had taken not even five seconds to realize the guy was abnormal, but it took him strangling me to know he was a monster. That was just plain stupidity.

"How are you feeling?" Percy asked me. At least he didn't ask if I was okay, he did that most of the time; especially when the obvious answer was 'no'.

"Better," I managed hoarsely. My throat burned in protest.

"That's good," Annabeth said. "You should get some rest now. You're body will need to mend. We'll find out what happened when you wake up. Okay Cora?" I nodded and leaned back. I didn't even want to argue. I gave a quick glance at Hunter, who was staring at me intently. I tried my best for a reassuring smile, but I didn't think it worked.

I closed my eyes and immediately I started to drift off. It still took me a little while to relax. I was all worked up. Eventually I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**A/N: Took out, like, three sentences where Cora questions her sanity because when I wrote it, I had a moment where I had none. Anyways. Just a head's up for next week's chapter: I have brought in a bit of my own fiction combined with actual mythology. So if you get confused . . . that's why. A head's up for next week. Now what did you think? How was it? Wasn't that flame man . . . interesting? *evil smile* So tell me what you thought through either fav or alert or review! **


	25. Old Demons Come For New Revenge

**A/N: I was totally prepared to upload this, then forgot I had to save this as a separate file. That was stupid on my part . . . aren't I a genius? And I LOVE this new fanfiction! I can finally show those who do not wish to find me on dA the covers! Now I'm going to be doing covers for the whole lot of them . . . *crazy smile* I am too addicted to making them! Right. I still need to make one for here (I have to find a good base for me to draw the pose I want Cora in from). Anyways. Enjoy!**

Percy: Old Demons Come For New Revenge

It had been scary seeing Cora getting strangled by a man made out of flames. I didn't know how I hadn't noticed that guy sitting there (don't believe whatever Cora tells you! She says it to annoy me). But the second he burst into flames we had scrambled to get our weapons out. But if you had ever tried to get something dangerous ready while you were freaking out; it was not easy.

The monster, whatever it had been, had been really hard to kill. Most turn to dust from one touch of Celestial Bronze. And according to Chiron, nothing can withstand Tempest Silver. Which is what all of Cora's weapons were made of. The monster had her dagger, and Hunter's dagger being plunged into it. But it had taken me and Annabeth slashing repeatedly to kill it.

Now, this was the worst part. I had seen and fought most monsters (Thanks Gaea, thanks Kronos. You made sure of that). But I had never seen one that didn't disintegrate from contact with Celestial Bronze. Nor had I seen one made of fire. The closest to that is an Empousa. But they were she-demons and weren't made of fire. So seeing some new monster when there was no new Great Prophecy; it really gets to you.

Me and Annabeth were discussing what had actually happened, and all the stuff I just explained. Cora was fast asleep, which was a relief since her neck was bright red and, well, burnt looking. Also I didn't want to freak her out even more after that scare. So I wasn't too worryied now that she was asleep. Then there was the feeling she was going to be closely watched now (Cough. Hunter. Cough. I had noticed him often glancing at Cora).

Probably a couple hours passed. Some announcement was made, but they said it in French and Cree (which Annabeth recognized but didn't know). We tried to talk to Hunter about it, but we still didn't know what it said. Just another thing to ask Cora when she woke . . . great; relying on my little sister for translating.

I think Cora slept through the night, because it got really late and the rest of us went to sleep. She still hadn't woken up. That meant either she was in a coma or had just been put through a lot. But it couldn't have been a coma because she wasn't breathing faintly and her skin wasn't a sickly colour.

The next morning we all slept in. It wasn't until the dining cart was coming around that we woke up. It wasn't to great waking up from sleeping in a seat and having to order for breakfast. Thankfully Cora also woke up with us. Otherwise I would have started to actually get really worried.

We ate quickly, because we were all starving. When we finished we pushed our plates out of the way and began to talk about yesterday.

"So, do you guys know what that fire man thing was?" Cora asked us, her voice still sounding a little strained. She looked expectantly at Annabeth. Course she would.

"Unfortunally, no we don't. I've never heard of anything like it," Annabeth told her.

"Oh," she said quietly.

"We'll figure out what it was," I assured her. "Oh, we also need your help about some announcement that was made when you were asleep." She rolled her eyes at me (sadly I relied on her a lot). She turned to Hunter who told her the message. And something else, because she gave him a small smile and if I wasn't mistaken, she blushed (probably I was mistaken).

Turning back to us she said. "The train is stopping tonight and we're going to have to take a layover train. One that doesn't depart until tomorrow." I could have done a facepalm. We were going to be delayed another day? Someone was seriously messing with us.

"Just great," I mumbled.

That pretty much ended our conversation. I still felt like we all barely knew each other (I am _not _talking about Annabeth. That would make me get beat up). We all were absently staring around. Which, when you're ADHD, is really annoying and irritating. It had been who-knows-how long; but there was a sudden noise – like someone inhaling loudly – and I looked up.

Cora had a strange look on her face. Then it changed to puzzled and irritated. She held it for a few seconds before looking confused.

"What's a Mormo?" she asked. "It can't be what I'm thinking of." I stared at her completely confused.

"A Mo-mo-what?" I said frowning.

"Mormo," she repeated. I shrugged and turned to Annabeth. Annabeth was frowning, but she also looked nervous, or scared. More monsters I had never heard of, that wasn't a good sign.

"Cora, where did you hear that name?" Annabeth questioned.

"Uh . . ." Cora looked extremely reluctant to say anything now. Her eyes darted between us; she looked a bit like a cornered animal. "Never mind." She muttered hastily.

"Oo-kay," I mumbled knowing that asking her any more was just useless. I turned towards Annabeth. "So, I'm guessing you heard that name before?" Annabeth nodded and looked deep in thought. I had to clap in front of her face to get her to come out of it.

"Yeah, I've heard that name before," she hesitated and I gestured for her to continue. "That's the name of a very old spirit. It was said to bite people, but it was dismissed as an old wives' tale. It really didn't do much. I think. The gods banished it to Tartarus soon after coming into power. At least . . . I believe so." I nodded grimly.

"I'm going to take a wild-shot and assumed Gaea brought it back," I said sarcastically.

"Of course it was her Seaweed Brain," she replied rolling her eyes.

"I'm just messing with you Wise Girl," I told her. "She brought back practically everything."

"Oh I know. But there's one thing that I don't like," she continued. I looked at her expectantly; I wasn't sure what she meant. "The fact it went after only Cora. I'd think it would come after you, Percy. You saved Olympus multiple times and Gaea did think of you as a valuable piece."

"That is weird," I agreed. "Then again, Grover did say she has the strongest scent ever."

"You do realize I'm right here?" Cora interrupted annoyed. "Can you stop acting like no one else exists?" I think Cora was jumping to conclusions again . . .

"We know you're there. What are we? Blind?" I sighed. Cora gave me the evil eye, which instantly made me regret replying.

"No, you're just delusional," she retorted. I sighed and ignored her. I had quickly found that that was the best solution. For some reason Cora naturally was on defence around me, and took the offence every chance she got. She was also often tossing insults around. Maybe wherever she came from she had to act like that all the time. Who knew.

"Anyways, if we have to worry about ancient monsters, we're in trouble. And it looks like they're going after you, Cora. For some reason you're their main focus. If they really are still out there," Annabeth concluded.

"Hey, that means you're almost as talented as me in ticking off Immortal . . . beings," I said jokingly. I should really have learned to screw my mouth shut around her. Cora's eyes were shooting daggers at me.

"Yeah right, you take the prize for that. I haven't done anything, unlike you," she snapped. I was about to yell back at her when the train lurched and began slowing down. I looked out the window and realized we were at the station.

The train screeched to a stop and a gargled voice started speaking in French over the intercom. Glancing at Cora she mumbled that we had to get off for the night and come back in the morning. She was still in a bit of a foul mood.

When we got out from the station and into the streets, we were all in a much better mood. Hunter and Cora had talked and now she had completely forgotten being annoyed. That kid could work wonders . . . I needed to find a way to use him. Actually that would never happen. I wasn't an evil brother; I hoped.

We quickly agreed on checking into a motel for the night. Then it was up to following Cora and Hunter (they were our guides) to one. I was more than ready to crash.

**A/N: I took some liberates with the Mormo. In all honesty . . . I don't believe it's made of flames. Then again, I haven't actually met one so . . . I'm just going with what these guys are telling me about their story! They could be lying for all I know. But I do know a Mormo is real. Anyways; what do you think? Let me know through either reviews or favs or alerts! I want to know your thoughts! See you in a week!**


	26. Hotel Keepers of Doom

**A/N: In one week ... I WILL HAVE FINISHED EXAMS! I hate my school board, we're STILL not done. And we haven't done anything at all this week! I've been reading Harry Potter in all of my classes! A freaking waste of time. Sorry, but I'm mad. And the fate I'm only getting one review a week isn't helping my mood ... (I know I say I don't care, but it'd be nice, you know?) Anyways, here is your chapter. Hope you like it. And ... remember this was written, like, a year ago so please ignore mildly wrong information.**

Cora: Hotel Keeper of Doom

The train ride had been irritating. Percy had increasing been ticking me off. Now, don't get me wrong, I did really like Percy. He was nice, and supportive of my feelings at camp. But for some reason I felt like I had to act mean to him. Like some instinct, that I had to take every shot I could at him. Maybe I had some annoying sibling wherever I came from . . . Unlikely.

Any who, we were now in some town called Sept-Rivieres. Which actually meant 'seven riviera's' in case you were wondering. We were scouting around for a motel to stop for the night. Actually, me and Hunter were trying to find one. I had found something else interesting about me. I could _read _French like it was English. Well, I did that with Greek before but that was a common thing for demigods.

We ended up using a brochure that included a map. Why a small town had a brochure I didn't know. There were several motels. We figured the most run down one would attract less attention. It was near the edge of the town. So we ended up with a bit of a walk. Well, it was quite a walk for everyone else. I didn't get tired.

The motel was run down. Paint peeling, cracked sidewalks, and chipped doors. If you could think of it, it was probably there. Obviously the owners didn't care. I was surprised the place was still in business.

Since it would look weird if two people underage had tried to get room; me and Percy went in. We chose Percy over Annabeth because he looked slightly older (aftermath of fighting in the two wars as a leader). I had to go because I was the only person who understood what everyone was saying. Gah, I had to help so much; and I was already stressed enough.

The lobby wasn't much nicer then the outside. The man sitting at the desk was wearing what looked a bit like a suit. It was wrinkled and stained, as if it hadn't been washed in months. Thankfully the man was a mortal. It was pretty obvious he was. I could just tell.

We walked up to the front desk, which was just a large table. The man didn't even look at us. It wasn't until I pounded the bell loudly that he looked up. He stared at us, annoyed, as if we had interrupted something; even though he had been doing nothing.

"What do ya two want?" he asked us in a bored tone.

"We need two rooms for the night," I told him. If you were wondering why we needed two, it was because all of us sharing a room would have been something bad waiting to happen. And we all figured splitting up the guys and the girls might have been best. Which I completely agreed with.

"Aren't you a little young to check into a hotel?" _Motel, _I corrected mentally. I jerked my head towards Percy. Was this guy partly blind or something? The man glanced and Percy scowling then turned back to me.

"He doesn't know French to well," I informed the man.

"And you know English and French?" he asked sceptically. Well, I couldn't blame him for finding it odd.

"Yeah, what's your point?" I replied. The man shrugged.

"Just struck me a strange. Whatever, not my business," he said reaching behind him to a rack of key. "Here ya go. Rooms 454A and 454B. Pay on your way out mind ya."

"Got it," I replied catching the keys as he tossed them to me. Me and Percy headed back outside to Annabeth and Hunter. I threw one of the keys at Percy, which sadly he missed. Instead of catching it, it hit his chest and fell to the ground. Nice going Percy, you had the slowest reflexes. Well, I actually wasn't surprised since I hadn't even made sure he was facing me . . .

"How did you get the man to just give them to us?" he asked suspiciously. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you think I did? Threaten him? The man just didn't care," I told him.

"Oh. Um, well, what rooms are we in?"

"454A and 454B," I said. He nodded and we headed back in and around the lobby. There was a central area right behind it. The area had a filthy pool and rusting deck chairs. If the pool wasn't so gross I would have been tempted to jump in. I glanced at Percy and saw he was tempted; if actually _did _try to jump in, I was going to slap him because that thing looked like it would have made him a mutant.

We actually ended up going around the pool to get to the stairs (no elevator) that led up. I would have preferred not doing that because you couldn't see half an inch into the water.

It took a couple minutes, but we did find our rooms and get in. I flopped on one of the two beds in Annabeth's and mine's room. I was a little tired. My body was probably still recovering from the Mormo attack; even though I felt fine in every other aspect.

I was starting to fall asleep when Annabeth did something that confused me. She reached into her bag and pulled out a laptop. It was a sleek silver model with Greek lettering on the top – Delta. I sat up and watched as she booted it up. The Delta lighting up blue as the laptop hummed to life.

"Where did you get that?" I asked, almost hesitantly. She barely glanced at me.

"It was a gift from Daedalus," she told me softly, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. I had the strangest feeling it had been a parting gift. Now, I wasn't quite sure who Daedalus was (I hate my memory loss!) but I wasn't about to ask her.

"Oh," I whispered, and then a thought struck me. "Wait, I thought half-bloods and technology don't mix to well?"

"Normally, you're right. But this one was made by a . . . sibling. Monsters can't trace it," she explained. Well, that certainly made sense.

I didn't bother asking anything else. Annabeth was extremely evasive. Unfortunally, just as I was falling asleep, the whole place started shaking. And it was not an earthquake (wait, how did I know that? Oh, right, my dad was the god of earthquakes. Sometimes I was such an idiot). I almost fell over trying to get up. Annabeth quickly stopped what she was doing. She cursed and closed her laptop, stuffing it back into her bag.

I opened our room's door a crack and peaked outside. I cursed myself. Standing right outside our rooms were three eight-foot tall giants. One was a bright ice blue, with frost coloured hair and a spear in one hand. The other two were normal coloured. Sort of. They had tattoos all over their arms, and I was pretty sure they had fangs. I slammed the door shut as quietly as I could. I looked at Annabeth, my eyes wide. She had her bronze knife drawn, her eyes fierce and questioning.

"What's out there?" she whispered. I was about to reply when there was a knock on the interior wall. I hadn't even noticed a door joining our rooms.

I moved and opened the door. Hunter was standing there with Percy behind him. They both looked nervous. But at seeing me their faces flushed with relief. I was relived too, for all I had known, they could have been attacked or something.

"Thank the gods you two are okay!" Percy exclaimed. "Do you know what's going on?"

I sighed. "We won't be okay for long," I told them. "There are three giants outside the door!" I then quickly repeated it in French for Hunter, which made him look nervous. Percy was staring at me like I was crazy.

"You _looked_?" He asked horror stricken.

"Um, yeah," I muttered.

"Are you insane?" That caused me to glare at him.

"No. What else was I supposed to do?" I shot back. "Wait around not knowing what's out there? Hope it's not a monster? It was just a peak." Percy was shaking his head in disbelief.

"You're going to get yourself killed doing that," he said. I shrugged and leaned against the door frame.

"As if you wouldn't do that as well," I commented.

"At least I check on you guys first," he pointed out.

"Okay, I'll give you that," I told him. "But anyways, what are we going to do about the giants? One's blue."

"Hyperborean," he said his eyes widening. "But they're supposed to be peaceful. And Laistry – something or other. Not Canadians." Where'd he get Canadians from?

"Laistrygonians," I said immediately. I blinked, how did I know that? The creepy voice hadn't told me that. Now, apparently the names of monster were the same in all languages, because both boys looked at me weird.

"How do you know that?" Hunter asked me.

"No idea," I muttered with a shrug.

"Can we get focused?" Percy interjected.

"I am focused!" I practically screamed at him. Should not have done that at all. Before he could reply to my outburst the door to their room started rattling. They just looked at it not realizing what it meant. I did. I forced them into our room and shut both doors. A second later the building shook and the sound of crackling fire was heard.

I pulled out my charm and it elongated in my sword. Percy drew Riptide and Hunter drew his dagger. The interior doors rattled and shook. I cursed under my breath. We did not need this!

"Come on!" I said urgently. I pushed open the door and stepped out onto the aisle looking over the central area. The giants were inside the boys' room. Which would have been a relief (they had their bags) except it was on fire. And parts were covered in ice. Time to make a dash for it.

I had only taken a few steps when I spotted a man in the motel uniform coming over. Mortals were not something we needed to deal with. If only that had been the case. The man was just below the porch railing when he began to grow. Within seconds _another _Laistrygonian was before me. This whole place was being run by monsters! Minus the guy at the front desk. But that was probably to throw any half-bloods off.

The cannibal giant jumped on to the aisle way. A flaming bronze cannonball appeared in each hand (now I wished Tyson was here. He'd help us and he was immune to fire).

The giant threw one of them towards me. I rolled forward to avoid getting caught with that thing. I stood up and looked back. There was a huge gaping hole between me and the others. Now I had to face a fire-throwing cannibal giant on my own.

The edges of the hole were on fire. Never knew metal _could _host flames. I was basically trapped. I think that was what the giant had intended all along. There was just one other problem. Since there was an entire section was on fire; the mortals at the motel (there were only a few) were rushing to escape. If I wasn't mistaken, I heard the very faint sound of sirens somewhere. This fire was going to get us into loads of trouble.

Turning back to the giant in front of me, I decided that using two weapons would be more effective. Holding my sword in my right hand, I pulled out my dagger and held it in my left. This would give me a slightly better chance; I hope.

The giant bared his teeth in a menacing, hungry smile. He probably wanted to eat me. Without wasting a second, the giant swung his fist down at me. And even though he wasn't huge, the fist still left a slight dent in the ground.

I bolted forwards just in time to get missed. I gave a low swipe with my sword and cut right through one of the legs. The monster burst into a column of green fire and vanished. But not before it could throw the second flaming cannonball. The cannonball broke another hole in the aisle way; destroying more of the floor as well as most of the railing.

With the immediate threat out of the way, I turned back around to the others. One of the Laistrygonians was gone. Almost everything was covered in ice, thanks to the Hyperborean. Oh, and you can't forget that _everything_ was on fire. I did mean everything, the floor, the walls; everything.

Without really thinking, I sheathed my dagger and took a few steps back. I sprinted forwards and at the edge (which was on fire) I jumped. The gaping hole was several feet long. I hadn't really been thinking, or trying to cross, so part way through in midair I came back to my senses. It was like a slap in my face, what was I doing? Being stupid, that was the best answer. I started to fall and probably would have crashed into the ground. Somehow I reached out and managed to grasp the edge of the aisle way in front of me with my fingertips. I ignored the flames; they strangely didn't feel that hot. I pushed my sword onto the aisle and gripped the edge harder. It wasn't easy, but I managed to pull myself up.

Crouching there I retrieved my sword and surveyed the fight. Percy and Annabeth were taking the Hyperborean, Hunter was taking the last Laistrygonian. Treading as quickly as I could on the ice, I dodged flaming cannonballs and blasts of icy air. I joined in with Hunter against the Laistrygonian. Distracting it so he could stab at it with his dagger. It too burst into a column of green flames.

We quickly turned to the Hyperborean, hearing the ever increasing sound of sirens. Annabeth had a thin coating of ice on her side. She whacked the monster with the butt of her knife, while Percy stabbed its leg.

They turned to us, and the sirens stopped growing louder and lights flashed at the other end of the motel. We looked at each other and an understanding passed between all of us. We needed to get out of here.

Over at the edge (with no railing any more) Percy jumped down on to the ground; since he was invulnerable and couldn't get hurt. Annabeth jumped down next and he caught her. Hunter grabbed the no-longer-sizzling edges of the hole and dropped to the ground that way. Placing my sword back into my pouch I followed his example.

Percy and Annabeth were already across the centre area and inside the lobby running out. Hunter was part way there, me following them at a jog. I managed to push into the cover of lobby just as firemen found away from the outside to the direct heart of the blaze. I hoped to the gods they didn't see me, but I wasn't sure.

All four us of ran for our lives, trying to find a place to stop for the night. The whole way we were keeping an eye out for even more monsters.

**A/N: Right, so I know Hyperboreans aren't quite like that; but they can be so let's say this one was conned into working for Gaea and he never got the memo she's asleep again ... let's stick to that story (I wrote this in, like, June last year! Or ... maybe it was April?). Anyways, a bit more action there! So let me know what you think via either reviews or alerts or favs! That's all for this week! **


	27. The Start Up North

**A/N: I AM DONE EXAMS! YESYESYESYESYESYES! So. Damn. Happy. I hate exams. And this Sunday, to celebrate, me and my friends are going to see Brave – the movie starring my twin! Yeah, the main character is my twin so me and my friends are all convinced the world is cloning me since so many new characters have an odd number of things in common with me . . . Anyways. The chapter!**

Percy: The Start Up North

We all ran around the outskirts of the town looking for a place to spend the night. After the long day and the fight, I was tired. Having an invincible body just meant I tire faster. And Hyperborean's were not that easy to fight. Especially because they were like little kids and in some ways _peaceful._

As we looked for cover, I had to admit, I was impressed by Cora. She had been separated from us, beat a monster, jumped an eight foot gap, rejoined in the fight; and hadn't lost her head. If I had been her in that position I would have been panicking and blowing something up.

In the end, we were so tired; we sought shelter in an abandoned warehouse. Before getting too comfortable, I foraged around and came up with a decent amount of useable wood. Returning to the others I used half and created a small fire. I didn't want to attract too much attention.

Each one of us looked terrible. Annabeth was shivering and I pulled her closer. Her eyes flitting around, like she could sense something was here. Cora stared into the flames, lost in thought. Hunter lay down, and it wasn't long before he was asleep. After a while Annabeth fell asleep too. I managed to stay awake, somehow.

"I'm so sorry," Cora whispered suddenly. I looked at her confused.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her.

"You know," she replied. "For leading the monsters to us. It's my fault they broke in." I shook my head at her.

"Yes it is," she protested. "I opened the door to look. I practically screamed letting them know where we were. I led them right to us."

"Don't beat yourself up about it," I assured her. "It's not your fault. Together we all are attracting monsters. It's not just you." I could tell from her expression she didn't believe me.

"You're just saying that. Grover told me before we left. He said I had the strongest scent he knew. It's my fault," she told me. Mentally I slapped myself. Of course she would think this if Grover said that. Well, he had been trying to warn her. Only now she was accusing herself.

"I'm not just saying that. It is not your fault. It's probably more my fault then yours. I am the guy who was in a bunch of prophecies," I told her. Cora sighed and gave me a small grateful smile. "You should sleep." She gave a slight nod and lay down.

The rest of the night passed smoothly. I sat there for most of it; listening to the crackle of flames and the creaks of the old warehouse. Part way through Annabeth woke up allowing me to go to sleep. I was out in a manner of seconds. In the morning I was the last to wake up. It was actually Annabeth who woke me. Otherwise we would have missed our train.

We ran back to the station five minutes before the train departed. Collapsing into our seats the train began to screech forward. Yeah, I just almost blew our chances to go north. But being invincible tired me out so no one got mad at me (which was a relief).

We all ended up snoozing after a while. I woke up every once in a while. Mostly to eat, or use the bathroom. Basically, I was only awake for necessities. Same with everyone else, so we never talked. It was like that until the second day. Which was our last day on the train.

Annabeth had pulled out her laptop and was searching something. She wouldn't let me look, so it might have been one of Daedalus's inventions. I doubted the train got Wi-Fi, even though routers popped up everywhere. We sat there in silence until Annabeth gasped and showed me her screen.

"Percy, look at this!" she exclaimed shoving the laptop in front of me. Oh, so she did get Wi-Fi after all.

"What's the big . . . Oh no . . ." I trailed off seeing what the screen had.

It was a Wikipedia page titled _'The Darkest Dawn; Cult of Hecate'. _It had a bunch on tiny writing I could hardly make out. On the right hand side by side bar it showed an image of some sort of crest carved in stone. It was of two snakes that had heads at either end. They were intertwined complexly and bees of some sort were flying around them. The caption said the snakes were called an Amphisbaena.

Directly below the first paragraph was the image of an old painting depicting that fiery bloke from yesterday.

I stared at the screen, trying to read the print. It was really hard to read on a backlit screen with Dyslexia in a moving train. I had only gotten through a couple of lines before I was interrupted.

"Um, Percy, what's the big deal?" Cora asked me. I stopped reading and turned the laptop so she could see.

"This is. Only problem is I can't read it to well," I told her. She looked panic-stricken for a moment. Then she squinted at the screen for a few minutes before sighing.

"I can't read this," she admitted. "It looks like gibberish. None of it makes sense." I took the laptop back and handed it to Annabeth. She scrolled through the rest scanning it. After a while she started reading it out loud.

"_The Darkest Dawn is an ancient Greek cult of learned sorcerers and necromancers. They worshipped the goddess Hecate, believing she would give them immortal life after death; although she was worshipped for many reasons. In several cities they had branches and often lead the rituals for Hecate. This is the only good thing they have been found to have done in their worshipping of Hecate._

"_There is very little proof of their existence. Their cult never expanded outside of one city-state; but paintings and stone tablets and scrolls dug up in the ruins Mycenae indicate that if they expanded beyond, the Greeks would have been in danger. They were brutal, mutilated looking men who enjoyed torturing in hopes to find out about the crossroads their goddess watched over. As worshippers to Hecate they had great magical skill; their magic was often dark magic used in raising the dead or malevolent spirits. These spirits were often ones cursed by the Greek gods or ones that had been banished in Tartarus." _

Annabeth paused and scrolled down. "Some useless information . . . ah, here we go: _Hecate's cult like using either fire or death in their magic. The Darkest Dawn enjoyed dangerous, large creatures of destruction and more stealthy ones sacred to Hecate; such as the Mormo and Empousa. Both were vampiric spirits; one said to bite bad children and the other said to feed on blood, though very little is actually know." _Annabeth finished with a slightly disappointed and worried smile, but for the most part she seemed satisfied in the information

"What does that all mean? The only thing I understood was the last little bit," I told her. Annabeth rolled her eyes at me.

"Gods Seaweed Brain, you are so hopeless," she muttered.

"Hey!"

"It's basically telling us where that monster on the train came from. But I've never heard of the Darkest Dawn," Annabeth explained first rolling her eyes then furrowing her brow.

"Maybe they don't actually exist; it's a cult to Hecate, who's reclusive, and they said it was never fully proven. The tales were probably started by some crazy peasant who ticked off the goddess or something," Cora put in. I nodded thoughtfully.

"That'd have to be it . . . I know everything that exists from Greek Mythology," Annabeth muttered. "Anyways, my point is, the Giants must have released that monster."

That basically ended our conversation. Well, it was the dining cart that ended it really. Dinner was being served. It was just some semi-warm chicken and other basic things. It was served fairly late, so we went to sleep straight away. That night I had yet another dream.

I was once again underwater. I was in the doorway to a tower room. Standing before me was a table with a map on it. A small patch of mist hung around the ceiling directly above the table. My stepfamily was on either side of the table. They were both scowling and staring intently at something.

"Time for another intervention?" Triton asked his mother, his double fish tails swishing wildly.

"Yes, it is time for another. But remember, his Lordship must not know," Amphitrite agreed.

"Shall we do the same?" Triton queried. Amphitrite nodded and her crab claw horns snapped twice. They both looked up at the mist. Faintly, an image I couldn't quite see started to appear. They both chanted something under their breath.

My dream was cut off by the feeling of something shaking me, and my name being repeated over and over again. The dream faded away and I found myself looking into Annabeth's beautiful stormy grey eyes. I blinked hard and sat up straight.

"About time Seaweed Brain. The train is about to stop. We've reached the end of our ride," she told me.

"Aw man, what time is it? How long was I asleep for?" I asked quietly.

"It's nearly noon," Cora informed me. "And why were you muttering 'what are you doing'?" I stared at Cora blankly.

"You were talking in your sleep again," Annabeth said.

"Oh . . ." I felt my face go red. I still did that to my much annoyance. Before I could tell them about my dream Hunter cleared his throat and pointed out the window. The station was approaching, and approaching fast. I wondered why weren't slowing down.

It wasn't very pleasant waiting to see if the train was going to crash into the station or not. It didn't actually crash in the end. But there was a loud screeching sound and a sudden jolt as it seemed to hit something. The doors of the train screeched open.

We were gathering our bags to leave when Cora looked out the window, her face morphing into an expression of worry. Quickly she grabbed me and Hunter forcing us out of the train then did the same to Annabeth. Once we were all on the platform she herded us out of the station, rushing us through security. We almost made it too.

We were just getting to the gate when there was the sound of an explosion. I looked back and saw thick smoke rising. By its location, it looked like it was coming from our train. There was the faint crackle of flames. By the looks of the fire, it was mostly smoke.

Hurrying through the station, we received no issues because everyone was worrying about the train explosion. Once outside we all sat on a large park bench some ways away. We watched as the bright red fire trucks passed by with their sirens wailing. As we sat there, a thought struck me.

"Hang on; you knew that was going to happen. Didn't you?" I asked turning to face my sister.

"Yeah, wasn't too hard to figure out. The front end was already smoking," she said shrugging with a small smile.

"So you just said nothing and forced us out? Thanks . . . you could have said something," I muttered in reply.

"I could have," she mused. "But I didn't." I glared at her and she returned it with an innocent look. Annabeth muttered something in Ancient Greek about siblings and pulled out her many maps. She unfolded the one of Canada and looked over it.

According to the map we were at the southern tip of James' Bay. There were two ways to get to our destination (it was a military outpost called Alert). One way was overland – with lots of boat passages to get between the many islands. The other way was to go entirely by water. Going by water was shorter. The only problem was I doubted we could hire a boat to take us.

In the end we agreed that going by water was our best bet. After all, we had two children of the Sea God on our team. Deciding to peruse the pier; we headed off following Cora and Hunter's directions based on the road signs.

The pier was in top condition. Mainly fishing boats were tied up. Along with a couple ones that looked like military vessels. But not too many were there – probably out being used since it was the day. There were one or two pleasure vessels. Several people were milling about. Boats coming in and out, people moving shipments. It was clearly a fishing community.

We check out a couple jetties. But nothing seemed to be for rent or anything. I thought about my dream, but the details of the mist were sketchy. I knew that if I could just remember that would make everything so much easier.

It wasn't until I spotted something that we had any luck. There was a heavy mist at the end of one of the wharfs. I pointed it out and we headed over. As we approached the mist started to recede and clear. It was another boat. But this one was not just anyone's boat. You could tell by the Ancient Greek writing on the prow and the scroll attached to the railing.

Cora unrolled it and read it silently. She was the best to read it; especially since the last time we had one of these notes I couldn't read parts of it (yeah, I still wasn't too great at reading Greek). When she finished she muttered something under her breath and folded up the scroll.

"The boat's from Triton and Amphitrite – again," she explained. "They said sorry for last time – which I don't really believe - and it's to use as we please in our quest." I clenched my fists. _Now, _I knew what my dream meant. My stepfamily was behind this – trying to help. But I didn't properly trust them either.

"How do we know the same thing won't happen again?" I asked. "We might wake up one morning and be Zeus knows where!" They all looked at me a little confused by that. "What? I just don't trust my stepfamily." I added mumbling. The girls went off in thought. Hunter was still looking completely lost by what we were saying.

"I think I know what we can do . . ." Cora said with a glint in her eye. "Since it'll be me and Percy steering and whatnot; we do it in shifts. So one of us is always awake."

"And how long are the shifts?" I asked a little nervous.

"I was thinking about six hours each," she replied.

"That's a good idea," Annabeth agreed. I looked back and forth between them. They were both looking at me expectantly.

"You two are working against me; aren't you?" I muttered. Annabeth raised her eyebrows with a bit of a hard look in her eyes. "Alright, alright, I agree. We'll do that." I relented.

"Great," Cora said smiling. "I'll even be nice and take the first shift." I glared at her and went onto the boat. The others followed me.

Me and Annabeth went below. It was basically the same as before. A small kitchen stocked with food, four bunks, and a bathroom. A bathroom with a shower. We had gone five days without a shower and been in two fights; and I was pretty sure it showed. The first thing we all did was clean ourselves. It felt so good to be clean. And everyone else felt the same – their faces made it obvious.

Since Cora was taking the first shift I stayed down below with Annabeth. As long as the boat didn't go a-drift again – we'd reach our destination in no time. I got ready for a comfortable leg of our journey.

**A/N: I, er, took some liberties with the Darkest Dawn since no one seems to know the names of any human servants (they had them, you know, to work on earth but without scaring mortals and stuff). So I made up the name. Just saying; and be glad I'm not doing anything with the maggots – saving your stomachs here. So let me know your thoughts through wither review or alert or fav! See you next week – AND ENJOY SUMMER! **


	28. The Intelligance Report

**A/N: I feel like last Friday was years ago . . . I have no idea why . . . but I got my marks, and I didn't fail anything! Which is very good, obviously! So here's the chapter – and I know you'll probably be irritated at the ending so please don't freak out . . . yet. Right. Anyways. Go ahead and read your chapter!**

Cora: The Intelligence Report

I had to agree with Percy. I wasn't quite ready to trust our stepfamily either, but if it gave us a free ride and some help – I was ready to try anything. Besides, maybe they were trying to help. They had given Percy a hard time; maybe they were trying to make up for that by helping me. Whatever the reason, I welcomed any help.

We did go with my idea of the six hour shifts. I was glad it was approved. Especially by Annabeth, after all she was the daughter of Athena. Percy didn't even complain that much because he got plenty of sleep.

As we travelled it slowly got colder. Even though it was the middle of the summer we were still far up north. We passed only a few boats. If it was my shift I would get either Percy or Annabeth to take the tiller; that way it didn't look so weird.

The farther north we travelled, the edger I got. I felt as though something vital in me was weakening, was going dead. Percy had explained how this far up north was wild, beyond the control of the gods. Maybe that was it; all I knew was the further away from the gods we got, the more worried and edgy and tired I got. Something within me desperately needed the gods, both emotionally and physically.

It took a week of going at top speed to get past Baffin Island. We were now in water choked with half frozen ice and islands. We were almost to our destination. It was nice to know this would soon be over. Or, I thought this would soon be over. It certainly seemed that way.

The night before we arrived at Alert I stood shivering on the deck. It was the middle of the night, during the few hours of darkness, with a half moon hanging high in the sky. It was rather cold and I had nothing to warm myself with. Being north with a good deal of skin exposed and nothing to keep your face or neck warm wasn't a nice experience.

As I stood at the prow, I saw Up ahead a scaly fin broke through the surface. With a light tug in the pit of my gut I pushed a strong current towards it. A moment later it sunk back beneath the waves. This had happened only once before, a sea monster of some sort coming for us. The others didn't know it had happened, it had been on my shift so I never bothered to tell them.

After a couple more minutes of shivering I heard footsteps behind me. I didn't turn around because who could appear that wasn't a friend? Then again, it was the middle of the night in the middle of the ocean in the land beyond the gods . . . but still.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and I looked over. It was Hunter. What he was doing up, I didn't know. He offered me a thick blanket which I took gratefully and wrapped around my shoulders; pulling it tight around me.

"Thanks," I murmured with a smile. "But what are you doing up?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't sleep and figured you were lonely." I gave him another smile.

"I was," I admitted. "Thanks again for the blanket. I was pretty cold." I shivered again, still a little chilled, but getting slowly warmer.

"No problem. So, how much longer?" he asked.

"Shouldn't be more than a day if we keep up this speed," I told him. "Nautical sense is very helpful in this situation."

"Do you think you'll remember when we get there?" he looked concerned when he asked that. I stared straight ahead, a tear forming in my eye.

"I don't know. I hope so," I said quietly. "It's hard not knowing your own past."

"You're not even scared about knowing?"

"I might be . . ." I muttered not wanting to admit I was actually terrified. I could be an enemy for all I knew. I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. "Can I ask you something?" I said suddenly as the thought popped into my mind. Hunter shrugged a bit confused. "How did you follow us from New York?" Even in the night time moonlight I could see him grow pale then flush. Wow, never thought it would be that big of a deal.

Hunter mumbled something and looked away. I just stared at him. Eventually he turned back around realizing I hadn't heard him.

"I . . . I said I asked your dad," he mumbled. I stared at him in complete surprise.

"You did what?" I hissed.

"I - er - I prayed to your dad for help following you," he repeated. "He sent a horse-fish-thing." I glared at him then sat down with my back against the railing so I could wrap the blanket around my legs.

"Be glad it's too cold for me to bother slapping you," I told him. He sat down beside me.

"You are violent," he replied. I gave a small laugh.

"I am not, I'm just saying what you did was incredibly stupid to some extent. You were asking a god after all," I said.

"I had a good feeling about it."

For the rest of my shift (which was the rest of the night) we talked and my spirits were lifted for the first time since leaving camp; which was surprising because the whole time they've been as low and tortured as Tartarus . . . but it was still nice to relax, even for a little while.

When Percy came up for his shift, we were only about half an hour away from Alert and the sun was blinding on the ice and snow. I took the small opportunity to warm up even more and get a little bit of sleep. Thankfully I didn't get a dream.

I woke up a couple minutes before we landed. The others were already on top. After reliving myself I joined them. Alert looked like nothing more than a tall stone wall caked with snow and ice. Inside was probably a low building. A Canadian Navy ship and an icebreaker ship were moored on the other side of the point at the large dock.

After securing our boat to the ice – actually we made Percy do that - we climbed over the side. The first thing I noticed was how much colder it was here. Clearly the area surrounding our boat had been tampered with so we didn't freeze. I immediately started to shiver nonstop. A few minutes out there and I'd be nothing more than a Corasicle.

We slowly began trudging through the snowdrifts. The sun reflected off the snow brightly; making it hard to see. The snow was up to my knees. Even though I didn't get wet, I sure felt the freezing snow melt as it contacted my body. My shivering got worse, I was literally shaking in cold. My finger tips were turning blue. I stuck my hands in my armpits.

The others must have noticed, because we were barely halfway there when they surrounded me closely. They were all covered up more properly, and their extra warmth managed to warm me a little bit. Not too much, sadly, but I wasn't in immediate danger of frostbite. Aside from on my feet; they might still have frozen.

We marched onwards, the cold wind tossing up tiny ice shards, threatening to freeze our eyelids shut. In a minute we came to the gate of the stone wall. It was open, a giant metal gate, and it was wide open. Not the best plan for a military outlook. Stamping inside the compound, the wind died down and the ground was leveled. We didn't have to plow through snowdrifts anymore. But it made me notice all the more how frozen my toes were becoming.

Tramping across the small enclosure, we noticed another scroll attached to the door. What was it with all these scrolls? I almost preferred the creepy voice to them . . . oh no, I definitely preferred the scrolls to the voice. The voice was just plain scary (like, freak-you-out scary. Not scared-to-death scary). Despite my annoyance of the multiple scrolls, I shuffled up and pulled it down. Unrolling it, I scanned over the now-becoming-familiar lettering. I felt mild disgust rising inside me as I read it.

"_To the young questing demigods, this leg of your journey is near a close. Inside this outpost you will find many different reports. You will know the ones that apply to you. They will guide you as you carry on. Amphitrite and Triton," _I read out loud. It was followed by shocked silence. I was probably only a few seconds away from ripping it in two. We had completely been duped. We had been told to come up here by them, and now they tell us it was all about a stupid report? What had the purpose of this been? Entertainment or something? They couldn't even have watched us up here!

The only one who wasn't looking angry was Hunter, oops; I talked with the guy so easily I easy forgot he spoke French only. I quickly mumbled what the letter said in French to him. Then he looked shocked and also slightly angry.

"Why am I not surprised they decided to pull a stunt like this," muttered Percy. I barely cast a glance at him; surprisingly I agreed. But I didn't even know our stepfamily . . . right? I felt like I did; but with how things were going I might never have known.

"Excuse me as I go inside to fume. I really don't want to freeze," I said quietly. Yeah, they totally forgot I was in danger of freezing to death. I grabbed the icy door handle and pushed the door as it swung inward.

Large monitors covered the walls; complex keyboards were built into desks around the entire room. Multiple seats were facing various monitors, but all were empty, and the screens were all blank. There were several filing cabinets lined against the back wall. The entire building was made of stainless steel. A door was leading into a back room but by the looks of it, it was locked. The entire building was utterly deserted.

I walked into the building, relishing the warmth that seemed to slap my body. My flesh started to sting slightly, a clear sign I had been on the path to being frozen. The others followed me, shutting the door behind them. I turned to face them, and then I noticed my skin was a red-pinkish colour. Okay, I was seriously not going back out there.

We looked around the building. It was odd that the place was empty. You would think a military outpost would have been manned. We were supposed to find a report. A good place to start would be finding where they're stored. Probably in the filing cabinets.

Unfortunally, when I tried to open it, we discovered it was locked. And it had an alarm. As soon as I tried to pull it open a loud high pitched beeping noise rang through the empty building. I probably looked really stupid right then.

Looking around for the actual alarm to destroy it, I heard a faint hiss. The others didn't, but I did. That probably saved us. The door at the back wall suddenly burst open and a Dracaena burst into the room - I was right next to the door. Since I had heard something, my hand was already near my dagger. As soon as the Dracaena came through, I had it out and stabbed it in the side. It crumbled away into dust. A second one quickly followed; running straight into Annabeth's knife.

We all stood frozen for a couple of minutes. When nothing else came running out at us, I cautiously looked inside the room. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw it was empty. No more monsters would charge us. Sadly I knew we had been completely set-up. Okay, if I ever met my stepfamily – I was going to mess up as much as Percy. I was hoping I wouldn't turn out like that.

"It's clear," I told them turning around. Percy went ahead and walked into the room. It was bare except for a single table on the far wall. There was fat file folder sitting on it. He picked it up and walked back out.

It was separated into two halves. The label on the folder was 'ALIEN SIGHTINGS AND ACTIVITIES'. Wow, mortals had some really weird ideas. Whoever heard of aliens? Well, they might have mistaken air spirits or something . . . but it was still really weird. One the one side a sticky note had been placed.

The note was written in Greek (I think . . .) and it was the same hand writing as all the other messages were. It read _'This should help you'. _Percy pulled out the overview pages of the two reports. I glanced at both of them. My heart nearly stopped as I inhaled sharply; I couldn't help but gape in utter shock and annoyance at what they said.

**A/N: Oh no! What does it say? I have no id – oh wait, yes I do have an idea of what it says. If you want a hint: look back at what's happened in the quest **_**very **_**carefully. And Hunter's explanation of how he followed gives you a very strong hint about Cora's past! Or, at least something about her. So let me know what you thought through either review or fav or alert! See ya next week!**


	29. One Memory Down, The Gods Know How M

**A/N: Yay! Friday! And I got to ride my mare again this week, which totally improved my mood greatly! Anyways, I have nothing else aside from that awesomeness, so on with the chapter!**

Percy: One Memory Down, the Gods Know How Many More to Go

I was disliking being there more and more every minute. We had no connection to the gods there, and that was never good. I was stuck between wishing Cora hadn't tried the filing cabinet and thanking her. I was sort of wishing she hadn't because the charge of two Dracaena had been really unnecessary. As well as made me dislike my stepfamily even more. But the fact it got us the reports we needed was a good thing.

I pulled the overviews out of the duel folder and looked over them. When I saw their content I gaped. I heard Cora inhale sharply beside me. Well, if I was her I would be yelling or something; so I say she was handling it pretty well.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Um, Percy? Can you read it?" I nodded and turned to the first report.

"Okay, well it says: _Unusual activity has been reported in the upper and central parts of Mexico. The activity has been slowly progressing northward. The most recent reports have been from Phoenix, Arizona. New information about this strange activity will be sent to you as it is gathered," _I read from the first report. "No idea what that's about."

Annabeth nodded, looking slightly worried. I noticed a copy in French; I pulled that out and handed it to Hunter. No way I was reading that out loud. I didn't know French at all. The fact I wasn't sure of that report's significance didn't help either.

"What about the second one?" Annabeth asked me. I swallowed and glanced at Cora. She had a dark look in her eyes and was scowling at the wall. I took a deep breath and turned to the second report, handing the French copy to Hunter.

I took another deep breath and read. "This one says: _We have received sightings of a strange group of young adults. They have been sighted stealing a boat out of the New York harbour._ I guess it was a military harbour or something._ They were then spotted in Old Quebec City, and they caused a large amount of chaos. _Oh great, remind me next time to take out security cameras and stuff.

"_They were next seen running from a burning motel in __Sept-Rivieres. Days there after they were spotted escaping from a train that had crashed. _Okay, I seriously hate security now! _Finally they were seen stealing another boat and heading in the James' Bay. _I didn't mention I saw a navy ship there, did I?" Everyone looked at me to stop interrupting the report.

"Moving on._ The most noticeable of this group is a young lady with red and blue hair. Keep a look out for any strange activity on the water," _I looked up. Annabeth's face was ashen. Cora looked like she couldn't decide between hitting something or breaking into tears and apologizing.

She grabbed strand of blue hair and stared at it, "Should have guessed," she muttered. "You stupider, unnatural hair." I looked at her confused. Hunter walked over to her, probably to calm her down. But she refused to look at any of us.

"What do you mean by you should have guessed?" Annabeth asked her, confused like me.

"I thought I might have been spotted at the motel, but I wasn't sure. Now I find out I've been tracked by the military!" she exclaimed. Now I was starting to understand.

"Look, it'll be fine," I assured her. "I was the focus of a nationwide manhunt when I was twelve. Everything turned out fine for me. There's no reason to let this turn into a problem. We can just make up a lie."

Cora gave me the evil eye for a second. Then her gaze softened and it looked like a thought hit her.

"So as long as I remain inconspicuous we won't get chased by the army?" I gave her a nod. "So do I cover my hair or something? Because I think even an idiot can find me if it's exposed." I almost smiled. She sometimes acted like she hated her hair colour. But I knew she actually found it kind of cool.

"A hijab," Annabeth said. I looked at her lost. What in Hades' name was a 'hijab'? Annabeth knew a lot of stuff, but she needed to remember I wasn't as smart as her when it came to miscellaneous facts.

"Um," I raised my hand. "What's a hijab?" Annabeth rolled her eyes at me.

"Gods Seaweed Brain, I thought you might know," she sighed. "A hijab is a head scarf worn by Muslim women. It covers head and neck entirely. Only the face is visible." I nodded, now understanding what she was talking about.

"That would work," I said.

"No, really?" Cora said sarcastically.

"Yeah, it would," I shot back.

"Please don't do this," Annabeth muttered. I turned to her with a small frown.

"Do what?" I asked. Annabeth rolled her eyes at me.

"Get into one of your guys weirdo fights." Well, she had a point. We did fight about the strangest things a lot. I guess it was just a sibling thing.

"Okay . . ." I said. I checked my watch/shield (Tyson made me a second one. And, yes it did work as a clock) to see what time it was. Turned out it was already really late in the day. About 4:30 in the afternoon. Wow, apparently time really flies when you're looking for things. "So, it's already late. What's our plan?"

"We should head back to the boat and come up with a plan in the morning," Annabeth said.

"We could stay in here," I suggested.

"We don't have anything with us," Cora pointed out.

"Oh . . ." whoops, hadn't realized that. "Well, I could always run back and grab stuff." I probably should not have said that. Of course since I offered, the girls did send me out to do that. So I had to run back out into the freezing cold. I grabbed mine and Annabeth's bags, then threw a bunch of blankets and enough food to get us by into a plastic one.

Once back inside, we all had a quick meal and then turned to looking through the reports more thoroughly.

We didn't allow Cora to read the details on the one where she was mentioned. That might have ended in disaster. So me and Annabeth poured over that one (after taking back the French version) and gave Cora and Hunter the French one of the other report. Yes, my half sister could read French. Even though she claimed it looked like English. Yet she couldn't read on Annabeth's laptop. Odd. But as long as she could read it I didn't think it too big of a deal.

Thankfully the report didn't lead us to believe Cora was going to be part of a nationwide manhunt. More like they thought she was some girl mixed up in a gang that liked explosives. So as long as she wasn't around when monsters blew stuff up, she was safe. When we told her this she was extremely relieved.

Since that report didn't give us any clue as to where we needed to next go, we pulled out the English version of the other report. As we looked over it I couldn't help but notice just about everything but it. It said things like: 'Teh frist sigthnig wsa in Meciox'. So not being able to read clearly and having ADHD made me not pay any attention. After a while of Annabeth trying she sighed and gave up.

"This is giving me a headache," she grumbled. "Percy, what time is it?" I check my watch/shield.

"It's 7:45," I told her.

"It's early, but we should probably go to sleep. Try to read the reports again in the morning," Annabeth said trying her best to stifle a yawn. I chuckled and put an arm around her. She let out a content sigh and leaned against me. Cora nodded and yawned herself. Then I remembered she had been doing all this on half an hour of sleep . . . how did I forget that?

"Okay, I'll take first watch. You guys can sleep," I volunteered.

"Yes, sleep," Cora murmured, making me and Annabeth laugh. In return Cora rolled her eyes at us. She stood up and grabbed a blanket from the bag, bunched it into a ball and lay down. She muttered something I couldn't understand, but Hunter nodded, so I guess she was translating our conversation.

After a while I was the only one awake. It was pretty lonely and boring. There was absolutely nothing to do, aside from read the reports some more. But I decided I wasn't that desperate . . . yet. I would have maybe dozed off, but since it barely got dark in the arctic, only falling partly asleep was very hard.

Part way through, Annabeth woke up.

Before she took on her shift, we ended up agreeing on contacting _someone _about what was going on. Originally I had suggested Chiron, but Annabeth quickly pointed out it was the middle of the night. Then Annabeth had another stroke of genius. Since we also needed to know if the reports were true, why not find someone who could easily find out?

The simple answer: Thalia. Not only would she probably be up, but she would help us. Now we just had to know how to contact her.

We went over various idea of how to contact her without an Iris message. We ran through a couple things but came up nothing plausible. Then Annabeth remembered she had gifted Thalia another charm for her bracelet that worked as a communication device (built by Leo, of course).

Together we managed to boot up one of the computers and after some fidiling and trial-and-error we managed to establish a link and send a call through.

A moment later Thalia's face appeared on the screen, looking downwards at us. The silver circlet marking Thalia as lieutenant sat crookedly on her spiky black hair. Her electric blue eyes looked dangerously alert. Her expression was confused, but she was trying for a slight smile.

"Percy! Annabeth! Gods, I haven't seen you two since last summer!" she exclaimed. "Wait, why are you guys contacting me." She gave us a quizzical look.

"Hey Thals, sorry it's the middle of the night," Annabeth apologized. "But, we need a little help. We were wondering if you might be able to clear things up."

"Say no more, where are you guys? Not Camp, that's for sure. I'll come find you guys," she said.

"Thalia, we're near the north pole," I told her.

"Oh . . . never mind then. But what do you guys need help with?" She cocked her head sideways in confusion.

Between me and Annabeth, it took us half an hour to explain everything. I mean everything, Thalia kept asking us for details. We told her everything to do with the quest, Cora, Chiron's message about the gods acting weird (Thalia spends time with Artemis, so she could probably explain), and every other detail we could think of. When we finished, Thalia looked a little disturbed. Almost like she was hiding something.

"And that pretty much sums it up," Annabeth finished. Thalia let out a sigh and briefly closed her eyes.

"Gods, that must be insane," she opened her eyes and stared at us. "And worst of all, Percy, your dad broke the oath twice. I can't believe it. It's just . . . crazy. And that explains why Lady Artemis has been acting a little distracted. I would ask her about this, but since she's back at Olympus because of the Summer Solstice I can't. And about those sightings -"

"Hang on, it's the Summer Solstice?" I asked, cutting her off. Now, I do not ever recommended cutting Thalia off, especially when you happen to be a guy. Thalia was still able to give great evil eyes. Thankfully she gave me one that was only about a 5.

"Yes it is, where have you been?" Thalia replied.

"On a boat, Pinecone Face," I reminded her. Thalia hated her nickname, so she gave me the evil eye that was a perfect 10.

"Stop calling me that and that was a rhetorical question," she said.

"Oh."

"So, Thals, can you help us?" Annabeth broke in. "We need to know if this report is true. Has there been strange things happening near Phoenix?" Thalia nodded grimly.

"Yeah, there has been," Thalia informed us. "We were going to check it out, but we were ordered to stay clear. But if you guys are going to check it, the Hunter's will be on stand-by for back-up."

"Okay, thanks Thalia, that's great," Annabeth said gratefully.

"Well, bye, I'll see you guys later," Thalia's hand blocked the screen and a moment later it went blank.

I let out a sigh and rubbed my head, thinking. I was seriously tired. I grabbed my own blanket and lay down to go to sleep, leaving Annabeth to keep watch and mull over everything we had learned.

In the morning I was, of course, the last to wake up. The others were discussing exactly where we should go. We weren't sure whether or not to head to Phoenix, or if we should head to Mexico. It was a tricky dilemma.

Eventually we did decide on going to Phoenix. That left the question of getting there. It was inland, so going over water would only get us part way.

We were all talking about other possible ways when Cora's face completely glazed over. She just seemed to freeze up and think.

We all fell silently and stared at her. I knew _exactly _what was happening. She was doing what I had wanted to do once – course I couldn't because my life was in danger. We waited for a minute why she fidgeted, a complex expression on her face. Then I figured she got enough luxury of thinking and muddling (I didn't!). I reached over and gently flicked her temple. She blinked several times and looked around at us somewhat happy.

"So?" I asked her.

"So what?" she asked back.

"Um, what just happened?" Annabeth asked both of us. She looked very confused. I felt a faint smile play on my lips.

"Cora just got her first memory back – I could tell by her expression because it was a mirror image of what I once felt," I told her. Annabeth's eyes widen in surprise at me. She looked back and forth between me and my sister.

"Really? You just – really?" Annabeth was speechless. Okay, I _never _thought I'd see Annabeth speechless. About anything, but least of all this. I nearly laughed at her, but I didn't.

"Yeah, right Cora?" Cora just nodded in reply, her face flushed slightly. I smiled at her. "So what memory did you get?"

"Well . . . it's a little hard to explain," she murmured, her facing turning pink even more. "It's not like a physical memory of a person or a place. More like a memory of a skill. It's a bit complicated." I gave her a nod.

I had memories like that too return. They are impossible to describe. And they did make me want to just drop everything; which I had done at night. A moment later she gave a smile that wasn't the most comforting.

"But, I do know how to get to Phoenix now." Now she had me and Annabeth confused.

"You do?" I asked her. "How?"

"You'll see. Do you want to go or not?" she was really confusing me now. "And powers still work here, right?"

"Well, yeah, but -" I started but she cut me off by standing up.

"Then come on," she said. She walked over to the door and turned back around, tapping her foot impatiently. I rolled my eyes at her and stood up. Me and Annabeth gathered up all of our stuff while Cora translated everything to Hunter.

When we finally had everything, we followed Cora out into freezing cold. Either she had lost her mind, or she knew what she's doing, because I sure didn't have a clue. Instead of heading back to the boat, she led us straight out to the water's edge. She stopped and stared for a moment, like she was a bit hesitant.

"You guys need to hold on to me," she instructed. "Hold on to me, and whatever you do, _don't _let go." She repeated it in French and we all grabbed Cora. She took a deep breath. Then, she took a step forward. Together we all plunged in to the icy water.

**A/N: Oh my, what did Cora remember? This won't cause a problem at all . . . so Thalia made a guest appearance, which isn't too surprising knowing me . . . and other things. Next time I update, it will be after dragging myself out of a lake . . . I MISS SWIMMING. Er, anyways, I forgot what I wanted to say, (oh, now I remember, I had to do a lot of editing and reworking, so if it's messed up, sorry - it was written before SON) so . . . review, fav, or alert, just let me know your thoughts!**


	30. Captured

**A/N: Er, sorry 'bout last week. I was kinda unable to get online and do this ... Instead I was in a lake. Chasing an evil inflatable ball ... and getting my shoulders burnt to a crisp ... if you are not a ginger, you are lucky because you will not become a cherry tomato. So yeah, sorry 'bout last week. Here's the chapter.**

Cora: Captured

It was amazing. I had a memory now, an actual memory! I couldn't believe it. It was so strange, having it just trickle into my mind. But now, all this empty space where everything should be wasn't quite as empty as before. I had a memory, completely amazing.

As I had stepped into the water, I could tell the others had doubts. Down, down we rushed, further in to the freezing water. Every art of me tingled and I focused on the feel of the water, fixing the location in my mind. Slowly the water began to warm up, the notion of rushing through something quickly washing over me.. After a minute the notion began to take us upwards. . A moment later, our heads broke through the surface and we were suddenly standing in the middle of a park fountain. The warm, dry air was a shock after the frozen air of the Arctic.

We stepped out onto the grass, and I began to sway, feeling slightly dizzy. Okay, in my defence, I had never done that with three other people before. I thought the most had maybe been two, including me. I took a deep breath and looked at the others; they all were staring at me in utter shock and amazement. I couldn't help but laugh at them, feeling elated at the return of the memory and my success at getting us here.

"What – what – okay, what just happened?" Percy exclaimed. I smiled real wide at him.

"That's my memory. Water-porting, that's what I've remembered," I said. "I told you it wasn't a physical memory."

"That's incredible," Percy said. "Hang on, why can't I do that?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"How should I know?" I shrugged. "But we're in Phoenix now." I quickly repeated everything for Hunter in French. The three of them seemed to be pretty happy for me - a memory, after all these weeks!

We sat down on the edge of the fountain to discuss our plan. We had to find out what was in Phoenix. Since Phoenix is on the border of the badlands, we figured that any enemies and monsters would be attracted to there. Apparently it's like the equivalent of monster breeding grounds. I also had to explain my sadly limited knowledge of water-porting.

Taking a deep breath I launched into my miniature monologue, "Okay, so water-porting is basically moving from one body of water to another, since all water has the same basic composition. As long as the area of the water is big enough to encompass you in any sort of way, it'll work. It's like willing yourself to travel very quickly through the water. Sorta like you've become water yourself, I guess. That's it in a nutshell. And I have absolutely no idea where I learned this." I quickly earned stares. Annabeth looked like she was thinking hard, Percy look impressed and slightly jealous, Hunter looked surprised and amazed after I translated.

"If you ever remember how you learned that, you're teaching me," Percy decided.

I sighed "Please note you said _if. _Meaning, _if _I get my memory back, _if _something horrible doesn't happen and we all die. There can be a lot of ifs," I pointed out. Percy frowned at me, clearly annoyed.

"You put quite a damp on this excitement," after a brief paused he added. "This is kind of like Nico shadow traveling." I looked at him slightly confused.

"Shadow traveling?" That term sounded familiar, but I couldn't be certain.

"Yeah, it's this ability that children of Hades and Pluto have," Percy explained. "Nico said that since shadows are all made of the same substance he can travel through and between them. At least I think that's what he said. That was during the Titan war so I can't be sure if that's right." I nodded, having the feeling that he was correct.

"I'm surprised you even remember that. Normally you'd have forgotten the details within moments, considering it was during a war," Annabeth muttered.

"Hey!" he protested. "That's not fair! If I forgot something then, it was usually either really boring or unimportant! Shadow traveling is actually really cool! Also, Mrs O'Leary can do it so it's kind of hard to forget when she sometimes pops up in the apartment."

"Anyways, what's our plan?" Annabeth said. "Head towards the Badlands? Or stay in Phoenix and check around? What do you guys think?"

I quickly repeated everything for Hunter so he'd be able to follow us a little better. I thought about what we knew and what to do when something whizzed by my ear.

I spun around and saw an arrow embedded in the grass. Suddenly I noticed that the park was eerily deserted. There wasn't even traffic on the nearby street. The only sounds of people besides us were coming faintly from streets out of view. A shiver ran through me; I could feel something was extremely wrong. My heart pounded and I looked at the others who were looking everywhere warily.

That's when it happened.

More arrows flew through the air in hordes, as if it was some deadly rain. Quickly I tapped my bracelet three times, morphing it into my shield. I noticed Percy did that same with his watch - since when did he have that? I raised my shield and pulled Hunter underneath it with me not a moment to soon. Shocks ran through me as arrows plinked off my shield.

As suddenly as it had began, it suddenly dropped off to almost nothing and warriors stepped out of concealment into view. There were at least fifty or more. All of them were dressed in full ancient Greek Battle armour, which I couldn't decide if it was comical or threatening. Some of them carried swords others spears. Basically it was an entire army that had suddenly appeared in a park in downtown Phoenix. A few dozen archers stepped to the edge of the nearby buildings.

We had been ambushed.

All of us pulled out our weapons as fast as we could and moved into a ring back-to-back. The warriors regarded us with cold indifference, readying their weapons. I knew if we waited, we'd lose. They had the advantage of numbers and size, we'd have to get the advantage fast.

"Now," Percy whispered.

Then we charged.

Sprinting forward I crashed into the front line of the warriors with my shield. Only a couple actually fell, a few stumble, most took no notice. They were too heavy and tall and balanced for someone of my size in comparison to knock over. If we were going to win this battle, we would need to use speed and agility. Which was something I happen to have had plenty of.

The warriors began the strike and attack me. I blocked with my shield and parried and attacked. I dodged and wove in between the men. I managed to get in some blows of my own, but they didn't too much damage. There were too many of them for me to have a chance, and when I did it would usually hit armour. There were to many for me to strike in the weak spots.

But the odd times I did hit flesh, they sadly didn't turn to dust. They were mortal. This was a very very very very (just pretend I kept doing that) bad sign if you wereever in a battle with a magical sword and a strong conscious.

I found myself running underneath blows towards the fountain. I had a clear view of the park entrance, and I noticed more warriors were coming in. They had been staked out everywhere, no doubt just waiting for us to show up. I glanced at the fountain, thinking this was a good time to use something else.

I felt a gentle tug in the pit of my gut and the water in the fountain rose up behind me. It circled around me like a whip, knocking anything within five metres of me. The only bad part – Percy was in the way and had the same idea as me. The warriors flew backwards as I slapped them with water and part of it detached, slapping me. Well it would have if my shield hadn't been raised. The same thing happened to Percy in reverse.

"Cora!" Percy exclaimed, looking at me a little annoyed.

"Sorry! I didn't know you were there! I can't see through people," I said half apologizing half pointing out the obvious.

Before anything else could happen, the warriors swarmed us again. With a sickening jolt I realized the majority were surrounding me.

It was madness.

I fought like a wildcat, blocking, attacking, even disarming the odd warrior. But they were too well defended and there were too many for me to do much. Then the arrows started again.

An endless rain, almost all aimed for me. I raised my shield against them. The arrows clattered harmlessly to the ground. I felt I was nearly overwhelmed when suddenly the warriors parted before me. A wide circle of calm.

Like an idiot, I froze there looking around confused. Then I saw it a second too late. A net. It hurled through the air towards me. I didn't have time to defend. The net caught me in the face and chest and I went flying backwards.

My sword flew and out of my hand and I thumped against a sideways tree trunk. My shield bent my arm at an awkward angle.

I groaned in pain. I blinked to clear my vision and noticed I was unable to get up. The net was on top of me and the corners embedded into the tree trunk by arrows. I strained against the metal net. It bit deep into my flesh, causing me to bleed and bruise; but no matter how hard I wiggled and fought it wouldn't give.

Something flashed on the top of building across the park from me. It was a hooded archer knocking an arrow – aimed directly at me. He loosened it and it sped towards me. In desperation I tried to raise my arm to block with my shield. It hurt too much; the net was caught on my arm and I couldn't move.

"Percy! Annabeth! Hunter!" I screamed as loud as I possibly could. I couldn't see where they were. I struggled harder against the net; heedless of the pain is caused as it scratched me deeper. If that arrow hit me, I was a dead girl.

A moment later after I screamed the arrow was at me. It thumped me solidly on the side of my head. The world around me span and I was engulfed in utter darkness.

**A/N: Oh no. That's not good is it ... DON'T KILL ME. This will make things get very tricky, now won't it? So let you know your thought vie review or fav or alert! I want to know what you think!**


	31. Why?

**A/N: GAH! I nearly forgot! I was doing . . . something else. Sorry I haven't updated in . . . two weeks! The first time I had a prior engagement, so I wasn't near a comp at all. Last week . . . I don't want to talk about it. I AM SO SORRY. I feel really guilty . . . so here's your chapter! (I know you've been dying to find out)**

Percy: Why?

When the warriors ambushed us, I knew it would take a miracle to get out of this alive. There were simply to many for the four of us, if we didn't try to make a run for it. The charge had been the right thing to do, because they were so heavy, but we were still hopelessly outmatched. Even Cora, who I suspected with the right weapon could take on the entire Ares cabin if she really wanted to, had little chance. We were stuck in a trap.

After mine and Cora's little clash with the fountain water, I lost sight of all the others again. Annabeth hadn't been too far away from me, but when I got distracted, I lost her in the sea of warriors.

Minutes passed and I fought the best I could, but the warriors were mortal, and even though they were attacking us, I still just couldn't kill them in cold blood. Although, I did disarm and knock out a good number of them.

Eventually I heard a voice through the din. It was Cora, and she was screaming our names. I whirled around towards the sound of her voice. There, across the park. She was fastened to a toppled tree trunk by a net.

I lifted my shield in front of me and ran. I was still too far away when an arrow flew by and hit the side of her head at the temple and she slumped into unconsciousness.

The warriors act fast. As soon as she was out, over half of them kept us busy with various attacks; the others went over and began to pick up Cora. They shrunk her shield and started tying her up.

With a yell, I lifted half the fountain water and threw it at them. But they formed a human wall, blocking any real damage and stopping it from reviving Cora.

I fought as hard as I could and rendered dozens helpless but it still wasn't enough.

A minute after Cora being knocked out the warriors all began to run out of the park, still defending, and the archers on the roof retreated. I was able to finally see Hunter and Annabeth.

We gave chase, but the men were too fast for us. I didn't understand how. Soon they ran out of view and we lost them in the streets of Phoenix.

Hunter wanted to keep going – I think he was a little crazy at that moment – but I managed to drag him back into that park because we were lost. I knew chasing wouldn't work (I unfortunally speak from experience) We all collapsed in a back corner.

Breathing heavily, our faces all shared the same expression – shock and pain. Cora, my half-sister, the girl with amnesia, one of the most amazing fighters I had ever seen; was kidnapped. Right under our noses. She was gone. Just like that.

"It was an ambush, whoever they were knew we would appear today," Annabeth whispered eventually.

"What are we going to do? This is her quest, and now she's kidnapped. How are we suppose to save her?" I asked, feeling slightly hopeless.

"I don't know but Percy . . ." Annabeth trailed off. I could see the faraway look in her eyes. Her mind was going a million miles an hour. "I just realized she got her memory back today, the Summer Solstice. Either it's a weird coincidence or . . ."

"Or the gods voted to give it to her," I finished.

Annabeth gave me a grim nod.

I turned over that possibility in my mind. It was just too weird. There was no way all the gods could possibly have a majority about doing something for a hero. Especially if it was my sister. That immediately knocked Athena, Ares, Dionysus, and probably Hera and Zeus from saying 'yes'. And that's half the council, and others might also say no. It would just be so weird if they got a majority. Unless . . . unless the answer lay in her past.

"Maybe she just got it 'cause it's been several weeks or something," I said, not really believing it. "We can't be sure the gods are behind this." Annabeth gave a small shrug.

"Maybe your right," she said. She still seemed uncertain. I looked over at Hunter. He looked torn between attacking someone or becoming mildly depressed. It struck me as very similar to how I looked when Annabeth was captured by Luke. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not . . .

Annabeth sighed and slung her bag off her back. She pulled out her many maps and began to leaf through them all. She found one of Phoenix and the surrounding areas. I watched her as she looked at it thoroughly. She quickly pinpointed our location and started to trace her finger along some route.

"That doesn't make any sense," she muttered after a couple of minutes. I frowned and looked over her shoulder at the maps.

"What doesn't make any sense?" I asked her.

"Look," she said tracing a finger on the page. "That's the route we followed the warriors on. It's too twisty for anyone to get away quickly. We should have been able to catch up with them because their armour would have slowed anyone down." I frowned, thinking that was strange. Annabeth was one to know every logical and scientific way. If this was what she said, then that was the truth.

"They must have used magic to get away," I said. After a moment, I thought of Thalia's promise to help if things caught intense. "Maybe we should contact Thalia. She could help. The Hunters might be able to track them."

Annabeth looked a bit surprised, like it was a miracle that I thought of that quickly. She gave a slow nod, a calculating look in her stormy grey eyes.

"Let's go find a rainbow," she said and we stood up. Hunter followed us blindly, confused, but not about to be left behind.

We found a secluded drinking fountain to use. I uncapped Riptide and slashed the nozzle off. A think mist spouted up, turning into a rainbow in the hot dry air of Phoenix. Annabeth pulled out a drachma and tossed it in; it disappeared in the usual golden shimmer.

Once we got through to Thalia and told her the news, well, I thought she was going to shock someone. I wasn't sure why she was taking it so personally. I mean, _I _was freaking out inside, but it was my sister! Thalia had never met her, so why was it such a big deal to her? I'd have to ask her when she wasn't in this mood. Because right now I felt like she was going to send a lightning bolt to kill me. Maybe it was just a girl thing, Thalia being a Hunter and all.

"So anyways Thals," Annabeth said. "If you and the Hunter's could do a little scouting that'd be great. Those men are strange, and we really could use the help. We'll still be looking, but we can't track as well as you guys." Annabeth was doing her pleading, puppy dog eyes thing. It made her look even more adorable.

"I'll send a couple Hunter's to go and roam," Thalia promised. "I'll I-M you if we find anything. I'd better go now though." We nodded and said good-bye to Thalia. She cut the connection and we were left staring at the broken fountain.

When we checked the time, it turned out it was 8:30 in the evening. Seriously, where did all the time go? We knew we had to stop for the night, but we didn't want to risk staying in a hotel after that one afternoon. Nor did we want to stay in the park, it was too exposed.

In the end we found this construction site that was building some houses. The structure was already up so we climb over the fence and stayed inside one of them.

The next day, we had no news from Thalia and the Hunter's. We searched Phoenix and surrounding areas thoroughly, going into every likely location. The whole day, that was all we did. Search, and search, and search. But we didn't find anything. Not a single clue as to where Cora had been taken. Strangely, we weren't attacked by any monster's either. Nothing, we had nothing to go on. It was like she had vanished without a trace.

That night, when I was asleep - well, let's say it wasn't peaceful at all. It was full of different god's voices yelling, cursing, and muttering. Basically it wasn't fun. I recognized a few voices. Something had annoyed them – again. They seemed edgy, worried, outraged. It made me even more anxious about everything.

In the morning when me and Annabeth woke up things were about as calm as my sleep. Hunter had been on guard, because he wouldn't sleep, and when we saw him, he was as pale as linen. He tried to tell us something but we couldn't catch any of it.

"Whoa, slow down," I said slowly. "What's wrong?" He began to speak more slowly, and judging by how he looked, this was going to take a long, long time.

**A/N: Hmm, I wonder what has gotten Hunter so riled up? Wait, stupid question, because it seems everyone in the world knows what's happening between Hunter and Cora when they don't even know themselves! But I mean, why is he **_**more **_**agitated in the morning? You'll find out next week! Until next time . . . !**


	32. Prisoner

**A/N: Bit late at night, yes, but I was either in a lake, watching a movie, or reading a book by one of my favourite authors so . . . I had to drag myself out of the Otherworld to do this. And now, some of you questions will be answered!**

Cora: Prisoner

I came back to my senses slowly. It was like trying to surface through pudding. It took me a minute for my head to clear partially. I was sore all over, and my muscles were cramped. I blinked open my eyes to see nothing. Craning my neck downwards I saw a thin beam of grey light coming from somewhere near the base of my feet.

Still groggy, I tried to sit up but immediately found that I couldn't. My ankles had been bound together. Same as my wrist which had been tied behind my back and my upper arms lashed tightly to my chest. I was completely unable to move. Then it all came back in a rush.

Everything, the fight, the capture, the quest - everything. I remembered all that had happened in the last few minutes before I had been knock out. Involuntary I choked up, tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I had been kidnapped, captured, whatever you want to call it.

I wasn't sure where I was, but it was some sort of cart. I knew because every once and a while the whole thing would move like it hit a bump and I faintly heard the creaking of wheels.

The ride wore on and on and on.

It took me only a few minutes of being conscious to feel something on my skin crack. There was a funny taste in my mouth. After a moment of trying to place it, I did. I was tasting blood, and the dried stuff on my face was dried blood.

I wasn't sure how long I was in there like that, but it was a very long time.

I was soon starving, who knew how long I was out for. Could of been days for all I knew.

But eventually the cart (if that's what it was) lurched to a stop. The end near my feet was rolled up, letting bright sunlight suddenly flood. It stung my eyes and I had to blink constantly to avoid becoming blinded.

Someone slashed the cords that bound my feet and two strong arms reached over and hauled me up into a sitting position. I blinked in surprise at the sight before me.

A small inlet surrounded by rock walls. Behind that, desert for endless miles as far as the eye could see. Standing before me was one of the warriors, who looked like some mass-produced living statue. And another man.

The strange man was dressed in a long robe made of a rough looking fabric. It was an indefinable hue between grey and purple. He had a wrinkled, but sort of timeless face and yellowish skin. He was extremely tall, taller than an average human. He had long white hair and a beard to match. On top his head was some weird extremely tall and skinny hat. He regarded me with cold, icy blue eyes.

I gazed hard at them unblinkingly. I would not show how freaked out I was. I squared my shoulders and sat up straighter. My cramped muscles screamed in protest, but I ignored it the best I could.

The man smirked at me, like he found this amusing. I scowled and looked harder at him.

Without saying a word, he just turned away. He snapped his finger and the warrior dragged me to my feet. My head spun and my legs almost immediately gave out. The warrior gripped the back of my neck and kept me up.

A moment later he forced me to walk forwards quickly, while he held a sword to my back. My legs ached. I would have loved to try and get away. But the sword pushing into my back was the only thing stopping me from spinning around and kicking him in the soft spot. That and the fact he was covered in armour and I was still a little dizzy.

I had no choice but to follow that man with the beard inside the mountain. Yes, inside the actual mountain. I managed to get a good look at several mountains in a long row before they hurried me inside. We were probably at some mountain chain. Like I really needed to get locked inside mountains.

Around and around through what was so twisting with so many turns off it could have been a Labyrinth. The whole time I was following that bearded man.

Eventually he led me into a room and I caught my breath. It was a huge domed room made of the mountain. The roof was riddled with passageways and holes. At least it should have been. Instead they were sealed off by huge designs made of stained glass. It was breath-taking; too bad the people who were here were no doubt evil. It really would have been a cool place to come under any other circumstance.

As soon as I was in, a door behind me appeared and closed. Leaving what looked like a seamless wall. I was left alone with the bearded man. The warrior had just vanished.

The man steered me to a stool in the centre of the room and pushed me down on to it. He tossed something near my feet and a second later a metal clamp was tight around my ankles. Yes, he bound my ankles again, like I was going to try and run out of a room with no exit. Were some people really that dumb? Apparently so.

I glared icily at the bearded man; he returned my look with a small smirk. Which of course made me harden my glare and scowl at him. We held it for a minute. Then he sighed and folded his arms.

"Such a shame," he mused. "To bad we can't change the past."

My scalp prickled and I fought hard to not spit in his face. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" I spat at him. My voice was thin and airy, cracking in my throat. It hurt.

"You don't know? Ah, how sad," he said.

"Just tell me."

He gave a fake frown, "You don't have to be like that, after all you're home." I resisted the strong urge to roll my eyes and snort.

_Yes, yes, play along. _That annoying voice whispered in my head. _Act like you believe, play for time, get information. _If I could, I would have talked back to that voice. What else was I supposed to do? It was impossible to believe him. Of course I was going to try and get information, until it got to hard to keep up the front; that was the first thing you do when you're surrounded by weird people who had bound you. But why did I know that? And how?

"Oh really?" I said raising my eyebrows. "Then may I ask, why were me and my friends ambushed? Why am I tied up? Mind telling me that?" I knew I had scored a point; the man scowled for a second then cleared that expression off his face.

"It is not our fault, there was no other option," he said. "You were on a mission when you got attacked. Hence your memory loss. Those at the camp recognized you; they used your innocence to fool you. We knew you would not believe us at first that is why all this is necessary." If not for the seriousness and the need to act like I believed him, I would have busted out laughing. It was so ridiculous!

"Those people you travel with are not your friends," he added. I felt rage as his words got to me. It took all my willpower to not scream in his face.

"So, then why was I not rescued? Wouldn't that have been the smartest thing to do? I'm not sure I can fully understand what you are trying to tell me. Maybe you should explain our location, that might help me remember," I replied. The man's eyes narrowed for a second then returned to their normal bored look.

"I suppose you're right," he said. _Suppose? This guy is so stupid . . . _I thought. I gave a small nod to signal for him to continue. "Seeing as you've forgotten, we're in the Superstition Mountains. The north-western end."

Then he did something very strange. This whole time his hands had been clasped behind his back, and now there was a sharp snap.

Suddenly I felt tempted to believe him, why shouldn't I be from here? I almost shook my head to clear it, it was all muddled now. I couldn't think straight. Everything was garbled, my thoughts coming out twisted.

Then there was a burning feeling began on my chest, as well as on my forehead. It woke me up fast and the muddled feeling began to vanish. What was burning on my skin? Why in two places? My Soul Key! Of course, that was why my chest burned in one spot; it was directly beneath my Soul Key! But . . . why did my forehead burn? I'd find out later.

As my head cleared, something told me this game was at an end.

Tilting my head sideways and putting on a sweet yet sarcastic smile on I said, "I'm sorry, but I find this all very hard to believe. I can't help but feel you've been lying." I should have kept my mouth shut and not of said that. The bearded man lost his self controlled look and scowled fiercely, his eyes shooting dagger at me. I was screwed, mental note to self: do not anger people who have you tied up.

The man yelled something I couldn't understand. Okay, not a good sign if I didn't understand! He snapped his fingers and the metal clamp fell away from my ankles.

A hidden door opened up in the wall and another warrior entered. He walked over to me and hauled me on to my feet. Making me walk, the bearded man went first and took me through more twisting passageways of stone.

After walking for a very long time, we came to a long staircase descending downwards into a black hole. I stumbled down them the best I could. My legs ached.

Once down, my legs were about to give out, but I was distracted from the aching by what was before me.

It was a huge underwater lake, with the odd column of rock spanning from the ceiling to the ground under the water dotted about. There was a small patch of rocky land just below the entrance, it went halfway across the cavern and was about five feet wide.

They pushed me halfway down the land and forced me on to a large rock directly beside the water. The bearded man dropped a long length of rope next to me and it magically wrapped itself around my ankles. I gave a frustrated sigh, like I could possibly find my way out of here. The bearded man smirked at my discomfort and I glared at him.

They turned back around and headed to the gaping doorway. Only then did I realize the only source of light was a single torch next to the doorway. Pausing before he left, the bearded man said, "Just a warning, this water is often used for visions and scrying, it has strange properties. I wouldn't look too closely if I were you." Then, with a sweep of his robes he was gone, and I was alone.

After a few minutes, I felt tears form in the corners of my eyes. I was prisoner in an underground hole. My friends were somewhere, probably clueless as to where I was located. I was completely alone, and this place would no doubt be the end of me. I wished desperately to at least not be alone, for some friendly face to appear. But that couldn't happen, I was mile below ground.

I don't know how it happened, but I found myself staring sadly at into the lake. Suddenly the water in front of me began to shimmer. Slowly an image appeared in it.

First thing I saw was firelight, flickering dimly and showing a wooden structure. Blobby shapes of three people began to form. A minute later, they came in to focus. I nearly gasped out loud at who they were. It was my friends. Percy and Annabeth were asleep next to each other. Hunter was sitting up, staring into the dying fire. He looked horrible, like he hadn't slept in day. Seeing this, I felt fresh tears well up in my eyes.

I don't remember making a sound, but I must have because Hunter suddenly sat up straight and his head snapped in my direction.

He looked like he was about to go for his dagger, when his eyes met mine. He stared for a minute then crept over. He was breathing quickly, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I didn't even know if he was actually seeing me. I had to be imagining this.

"I'm hallucinating, this isn't real," I muttered under my breath; squeezing my eyes shut and shaking my head. All that resulted in was my head pounding. Cautiously I opened my eyes, the image was still there.

"You . . . you're . . . oh gods," Hunter whispered. He reached out a hand, but it disappeared since what he was seeing wasn't real. I choked up, biting my lip to keep myself from bursting into tears. I _would not _cry, never. Not in front of others. Hunter took a shaky breath then, "Cora? Is – is that really you?" he sounded like he didn't want to admit it; I sure couldn't believe this.

I nodded the best I could, "It's me." I could barely manage those words. He looked utterly shocked for a minute, then blinked and backed up.

"I'll get Percy or Annabeth," he said, beginning to turn around. I let out a strangled sound, who knew how long I would have?

"Hunter, no," I told him. He looked back at me in surprise. "I – I don't know how long I have, and I don't even know how this happened. Please." Nodding he settled himself in front of the image.

"You're – you're not hurt are you?" he asked. "Do you know where you might be?" Gods, he sounded worried.

"I'm fine," I assured him. "Tied up, but fine. And I think I might be near the Superstition Mountain's. But I don't know if the man who told me that was lying or not because he told me things that I know are a lie and – and -" my voice broke off. A tear slid down my face and splashed into the water. It rippled, causing the image to do so also. Hunter squinted confused.

"What was that?" he questioned.

"Just that water rippling, sorry," I said. He raised his eyebrows.

"Water? Why don't you just water-port away then? Wait, you're crying!" At that I looked down stubbornly.

"No!" I exclaimed, wincing at how loud I was. Anyone could be listening. "And I would, but my ankles are bound and I can't really move."

"Okay." He looked away like he was about to cry then took a deep breath and watched me. "So tell me what you can then, before this cuts off or something," he said. I nodded.

I told him everything the best I could. He listened intently, paying attention the whole time. It was surprising because he has ADHD. When I finished, my throat was parched. But Hunter now knew everything, meaning I had a hope for escape.

"That's really all I know," I finished. Hunter nodded looking sorry.

"I'll find a way to explain everything to Percy and Annabeth; despite the language barrior. We'll come and get you out somehow. Just hang on till we can get there," he promised.

"Not much else to do," I said sarcastically. He gave a small smile, and I found it hard to not return it. Suddenly, the image started to fade. It slowly grew dimmer with each passing second.

"Cora?" Hunter's voice was sounding faint. "You're growing fainter, what - ?"

"It's shutting off, the connection. I'm sorry, but remember to . . ." I trailed off as it disappeared altogether.

I blinked and lifted my head, my neck was stiff. The dark water shimmered like oil, creating an eerie look. Without really thinking, I started to struggle against the ropes binding my arms and wrists. I twisted and tried to get them off. But all that did was make the ropes bite deep into my flesh.

Eventually I stopped. Biting my lips as I felt blood rise in my wrists. Fresh tears sprang to my eyes. This time I let them fall. I sat there sobbing, in the dark. And I felt lonelier then ever in my short miserable life.

**A/N: Enchanted water. Totally a good thing! Not. So yeah. The fact there was a message had nothing to do with Cora (okay, maybe it did a little, being the daughter of Poseidon) but the fact the water is enchanted or whatever. Anyways. What did you think? Let me know your thoughts through either review or fav or alerts or PM . . . any method – I just want to know if you liked it! See y'all in a week.**


	33. Searching and Locating

**A/N: Wow. I've spent the whole day making a digital copy of my book . . . lots of typing . . . not even halfway . . . GAH. And I realized something . . . Cora and that main character have weapons that have the same enchantment . . . oops. Created around the same time so . . . heh. Anyways. Here's the chapter! You all will still be wondering what's going to happen to get Cora out!**

Percy: Search and Locating

Waking up and seeing a slightly panicky Hunter did not help after a bad sleep.

As soon as me and Annabeth were both up, he started rapidly telling us something in French. Did this guy even sleep? By the looks of him, I doubted it. There were shadows under his eyes and his skin was a pale wan colour.

It took us a couple minutes, but in the end we did get him to calm down enough for us to make out a few words. More like Annabeth could figure out some words. It sounded like meaningless dribble to me. She had a better understanding of languages.

After several minutes of this, I finally managed to understand what he was saying a little bit. He kept repeating Cora's name, that wasn't hard to figure out. Basically it went a little something like this:

"Elle m'a apparu la nuit dernière dans une vision! Elle m'a dit qu'elle a été attachée dans une forteresse de montagne! Cora a dit que c'était les Montagnes de Superstition! Et les hommes qui l'ont traînent un bouquet de choses et -" Annabeth cut him off by slapping her hand over his mouth. He looked hurt, but that guy was on the verge of rambling.

"Hang on," Annabeth mumbled, her mind going a million miles an hour. "Montagnes means mountains . . . I think . . . and then you said superstition . . . Percy, grab the maps." Not bothering to argue, I opened her bag and rummaged through it. Pulling out her handy-dandy atlas/map I gave it to her and scooted next to her.

She flipped to the one of Arizona and started reading the tiny print that was everywhere (and her hand was still keeping Hunter quiet). While she did that, I thought about what she had said. Something about mountains and superstition? I looked at the map, and the first thing my eyes landed on made something click.

"You by any chance looking for the Superstition Mountains?" I asked her pointing to it. Annabeth smiled and gave me a one armed hug.

"Yes, that's what I'm looking for. Thanks Seaweed Brain," she replied.

"So . . . you think that might be where they are located?" I asked. Annabeth nodded thoughtfully, I could see she had already made up her mind.

"Yeah, I think it is. Come on, we need to get out there," she said. With the decision made she stuffed the maps back into her bag and stood up. She walked out of the structure and disappeared from view. I followed her quickly, leaving Hunter to scramble after us the best he could.

We walked through the street of Phoenix quickly. Annabeth led the way, us guys walking after. She explained that we needed to get to the mountains as fast as we could. The only thing is we didn't know how long it would take us. And unlike my sister, I couldn't magically teleport us closer. It took a very long time, but we managed to weave our way out of the city.

We had just gotten on to a track beside a high way when the air next to us shimmered. A moment later an Iris-message of Thalia appeared. She looked grim and I noticed that silvery tents were set up behind her. We stopped and huddled around the Iris-message, blocking it from the view of traffic. I wonder what the mortal's would see, probably just a rainbow.

"Good, I got through to you guys. I've been trying for a few minutes." Thanks Fluffy. "Why are you on the side of a road?" Thalia said hurriedly.

Between me and Annabeth we quickly filled her in on the news we had managed to gather. When we finished she sighed. Closing her eyes she whispered something to herself. She opened her eyes and stared at us with her electric blue eyes.

"You guys are on the right track. Last night we were alerted of some sort of cart or something moving through a pass leading to them. It was pulled by a monster and there were heavily armed men. We would help out, but we're under orders."

"Got it, we'll take the pass leading to the Superstition Mountain's. Thanks Thals, you're the best," Annabeth said. Thalia gave a nod and wished us good luck then cut through our connection.

Continuing along the road, we tired really fast. It was a cloudless day, and the sun burned brightly overhead. Apparently Apollo wouldn't take pity on us. We toiled on the road for about half of the day; it was mid-afternoon when we were hit by a stroke of luck.

An empty taxi was passing by and was kind enough to stop. We managed to convince the driver to take as close as the road allowed to the Superstition Mountain's. He was a little unsure at first, but the long trip meant a higher fare and the prospect of money soon convinced him.

It was nice not having to walk the 36 miles we would have had. It took us only 15 minutes to get there. If we walked it might have taken a day or two, so naturally we were all extremely pleased that the taxi had shown up when it did.

The taxi dropped us off, the mountains still a little ways ahead. It would take maybe one hour of walking to reach them – less if we hurried.

As soon as we had payed the driver he took off without a backwards glance. We would have to find our own way back. But to be honest, that wasn't my biggest worry. The heavily armed men were.

We set out for the mountains, and it wasn't too long before we found the pass. We stayed to the side of it, just in case something (or someone) came next to us. It was cooler in the pass; the high rock walls shielded most of the sun.

We went on for hours. Slowly the sun began setting and we lost hope of reaching . . . wherever we were heading that day.

The sun was low in the sky, turning it orange and pink when we got out of the pass. Before us was a small plain, and after that towering mountains. We scanned them quickly, searching for any sort of opening into them. Annabeth and I couldn't find anything at first.

Then Hunter tapped us and pointed to a spot. The rock came out from the mountain and curved; creating a small inlet.

"That's got to be it," Annabeth said quietly. Judging by the distance, it would take us a while to get. Not to mention the fact we would have to go slowly, taking an indirect route so we would have cover.

"Do we go now or wait till morning?" I asked her. "If there are monsters guarding, so dark might not be smart. Thoughts, Wise Girl?" Annabeth sighed and began sliding down the rocks towards an overhang. I followed her down, knowing she'd tell me once she was half way through her plan. Hunter slid down next to me, and we slid to a stop next to Annabeth.

"We wait until morning. I don't like this place, and I don't think we should try to break in during the night. Just try and get some sleep, we'll all need it," she said. I nodded and we sat down together.

We had a miserable dinner and the huge mountains looming over us didn't exactly improve our mood.

The sun finished setting and the stars came out. For a while me and Annabeth were finding different constellations, but we soon grew tired and agreed to go to sleep. We fell asleep to the silence of the night and humid air keeping us warm. Tomorrow, it would be time for a raid.

**A/N: I remember when my beta reader first got this chapter; she wanted to join in the raid and got all excited! It was so funny. So, let me know what you thought, through either fav or alert or review! Just let me know!**


	34. A Rescue Mission Gone Wrong

**A/N: I spent the day in a water park – mostly the wave pool! So now is the big chapter, the one holding both POVs. Why? Because otherwise it'd be about five really really short chapters. That's why . . . but here, it gets exciting and tense . . . *smiles* Now go ahead readers, enjoy!**

Cora & Percy: A Rescue Mission Gone Wrong

I wasn't sure how much time had passed. It was hard to gage. No one came for me, the bindings on my limbs never loosened, and I was as miserable and angry as a person could be. I got no food, no water, no nothing to keep me alive. Every once in a while I would drift into a half sleeping state of mind. But I never got any real rest; it's a little hard when you're tied up in a sitting position. All in all, time was going by and I was getting weaker.

After the gods know how long went by, I was roused from my half sleeping state by the sound of stone grinding against stone. I blinked my tired eyes open and craned my stiff neck upwards. The doorway beside the long-dead torch was yielding light.

Straightening myself up the best I could, I waited silently for whoever they were to arrive, my eyes aching. If I was extremely lucky, it would be Hunter, Percy, and Annabeth. I just didn't have that kind of luck.

A minute later, a robed man walked in to the underground cavern. He was followed by one of the warrior's who bore the torch. I stared at him, my eyesight full of spots from the amount of light after so long in the darkness. The man was dressed in a long linen robe of purplish-green. He too had a beard, but whether or not it was the same man as before, I couldn't tell.

The man walked smoothly forward, his footsteps creating that grinding noise. Were his shoe soles made of rock or something? Defiantly I sat as straight as I could and pushed my shoulders back, my eyes calmly shooting daggers at the man. The man regarded me with cold hard eyes.

Snapping his fingers, the rope binding my ankles fell away. Immediately a faint tingling spread across my feet, I guess they had been going numb. I shuddered internally at how my arms and hands must be, they had been bound for much longer, who knew how bad it could be.

"Get up and follow me," the man hissed. Hesitantly, I rose to my feet, my stiff body screaming in protest. Shakily I wobbled through the rock covered ground towards him.

Once I reached the stairs, the man walked swiftly up and I struggled up the best I could. The warrior bearing the torch followed behind me. If I wasn't so weak and in a bad situation, I'd probably fall backwards on him and try something that way. But I didn't get the opportunity.

The grinding noise from the man pounded in my head, making it ache. Soon my legs became leaden and my vision was swimming. Eventually, after what seemed like forever, we came out of the rising tunnel and into a long hallway of stone. More and more stone, great, I was sick seeing of stone.

Without pause the man continued down the hallway. I followed as quickly as I could, which wasn't too easy.

We passed an endless amount of side tunnels. They all had strange carvings chiselled into the rock above them. They all gave me the shivers; horrible carvings with no doubt gruesome meanings. I saw many that did not make me feel good.

After a very long time, when I could barely keep going, we walked into a vast underground hall. The roof was a mash of multi-coloured crystal and grey stone. There were stone paths on the ground, weaving in and around raised platforms, rock formations, and many fountains and waterways. I stared at the place in amazement; it was absolutely breath-taking! Of course, it just had to be inhabited by evil people.

They made me walk for a while, weaving through the different paths. I couldn't help but look around at the beauty of this place, despite the exhaustion of my body and the swimming of my head. Soon, we came to a platform; on it were several more men.

The men all looked alike; wizened faces, long white beards (the odd one didn't have a beard), long robes with the same grey base colour. Their skin was an unnatural colour and they were inhumanly tall. There were about eight of them, all standing in a semicircle facing an altar. On the altar was a bowl and a jagged knife – well that was clearly not a good sign.

The warrior that had been forcing me to walk shoved me into the middle of the platform, directly in front of the altar. I would have tried once again to break the ropes, but my limbs were nearly numb and I could barely twitch my fingers.

I swallow nervously and looked around; I saw a small movement near to far end on my right. Please, oh, please let that be help!

* * *

That morning all of us woke up early. The sun was just appearing over the mountain peaks as we finished eating our breakfast. Quickly we packed up, leaving no trace that we had been there.

We hiked down the rough mountain and made headway towards the small entrance into the mountain. Before we went in, Annabeth scouted ahead invisibly, just in case there was a guard.

Unfortunally, there was. That immediately crossed out using the main entrance. Instead we took a detour climb up the mountain side, hoping to find another entrance.

It wasn't easy climbing that mountain side. It was steep and there were several loose rocks and boulders that might have come crashing down any minute. We scrambled on for I don't know how long.

After a while, we decided to take a break on a wide ledge that didn't look like it might collapse.

We flopped next to each other in the hot, burning sun. We were dozing a little bit at first. We were all tired from our climb. I leaned back against the side of the mountain, and prepared to relax for a few minutes – not too long. Since we _had _to get in today and bust Cora out!

Leaning back, I half closed my eyes against the bright glare of the sun. I shuffled uncomfortably against the rock. It felt odd; not as rough and pointy as it should be. Maybe it's just my imagination, I thought. Of course, knowing my luck, that wasn't the case.

The next thing I knew, I was tumbling backwards, my Achilles' Heel painfully bumping against a rock, which spread a numb tingling feeling along my spine.

Before I could completely do a backwards somersault, there was a hard tug on the front of my shirt. I stopped rolling backwards and felt my body be lifted forward out of the hole I had fallen into. I dropped hard on my knees once I was back out on the rock ledge. Annabeth's hand was grasping the front of my shirt tightly, the expression on her face grim and serious.

Twisting back around, we looked in amazement at the hole. Turned out it wasn't a hole. It was a long tunnel leading into the mountain. It had been covered by some sort of leather like fabric that had been designed to blend into the mountain. It had been pulled tight, and me leaning on it had caused it to tear right though the middle.

Me and Annabeth tore off the rest of the material, widening the hole. Once we finished, all three of us stuck our heads in and peered down. It was a long dark shaft, the air dry and stale. Guess that's not too surprising since it was coming from inside a mountain. We didn't dare go down it just yet, even if it was tall enough for us to stand up in. Now that we had a way in, we had to come up with a plan.

"Even though that probably wasn't intentional," Annabeth leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Great work Seaweed Brain." I smiled at Annabeth, glad at the turn of events. She returned it for a moment, then her eyes got that faraway look. The one she got whenever she's thinking about architecture or coming up with a strategic plan.

"So what should we do?" I asked her after a few minutes. She turned to me, her stormy grey eyes looking troubled.

"I'm not sure; we don't know what it's like in there. I suggest we sneak down and see what the place is like. I'll figure something out once I see it, but Percy, be ready to use you powers, I have a feeling we'll need them," she told me. I nodded my agreement, noticing there was almost a moist quality to the tunnel air, she had a good point.

As quietly as we could, with Annabeth leading, me behind, and a confused Hunter bringing up the rear; we walked softly down the sloping passageway of stone.

It was dark, and we didn't have any flashlights on us; so we went by feel. It was straightforward, no unexpected twists and turns. That was about the only good thing, otherwise I would have felt we re-entered the Labyrinth (which would be cause for panic since it's destroyed).

After about ten minutes we came out of the tunnel on to a small platform that was still surrounded by rock so we were hidden. I gazed out wide eyed at what lay before me. My jaw dropped, it was spectacular.

It was like an underground city. The ground paved with interconnecting pathways, and roads. Fountains and pools were placed in various places around them. The odd platform was placed, with huge marble steps leading up to them. It was well organized and neat, like it had been well thought out.

Looking up, I saw that the ceiling was made of crystals. They glowed faintly in many different colours. The torches that were lit in rows along the paths reflected in them, casting them with a strange reflection. This place was a natural wonder, and I couldn't imagine how people so evil could have access to a place like this.

Turning my eyes downward again, I noticed the place wasn't deserted like I had originally thought. There were roughly a dozen people gathering on one of the platforms. There were hard to see from this distance. The only thing I could tell about them was that they all wore long robes of a gray like hue and were really tall. It was weird, were these something from Rome? Probably, I had never heard of anything like this. Even Annabeth was looking confused.

I looked harder at the platform with people. I had a feeling something was very, very wrong. Scanning around the huge hall, I noticed something. There was a slight movement behind one of the many fountains; it was heading in the direction of the platform. I watched it, it was three people moving.

After a minute, they mounted the platform and came into view. One of them left, one went to join the robed people, and the last had been forced to stand before a table-altar thing. I inhaled sharply. The last figure had bright hair . . . the colour of fire . . . with blue streaks . . . I began to tremble slightly. It was Cora!

Annabeth's hand was placed reassuringly on my shoulder. Glancing over, I saw Hunter was also staring intently at Cora. Well, it's not like she's hard to spot or anything. I caught Annabeth's eye and we reached a silent agreement. We retreated back into the shelter of the tunnel, pulling Hunter along with us.

Over the next ten minutes or so, we came up with a plan. The reason it took so long is because communicating with a French speaking kid is very difficult. Eventually we all reached an understanding of the plan – at least we hoped we did. It was time to set it in action.

We began our perilous descent into the hall as best we could. We kept to the shadows and went slowly. It took forever, but finally we neared the floor. Taking a deep breath, I dropped to the ground first. Closing my eyes and concentrating, I felt the all too familiar tug in my gut. Slowly, a mist began the rise from all the water, now for phase two.

* * *

I had managed to not look at that one dot one colour on the edge of my vision. But it wasn't easy; it was just too easy to get distracted. Why must demigods have ADHD? Oh right . . . we need it for battle. Unfortunally for me, the events happening around proved good for capturing my attention.

I was only standing there for a few minutes, the whole time my eyes focused in a sidelong look on the strange dot of colour that suddenly disappeared.

With it out of view, I turned my eyes back to the men standing around me. They were looking at me curiously. I glared at them each in turn, just to let them know I was not going to back down.

The one man behind the altar raised his hands. This man looked a bit like a stereotypical wizard or mage or whatever you want to call them. Necromancer, that's probably what he was, at least I knew they existed. But whatever he was, I did not like the look in his steely eyes one bit.

He began to chant in a strange language. Every warning bell in my mind was going off at once. It took all my self control to not tremble. His chanting became louder. The other men took up the chant as well. The smell of evil filled the air; an invisible wind ruffled my hair. I squared my shoulders and stared straight ahead.

That's when _it _happened.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed a small dot of colour the size of a pin-prick on the floor of the hall. But it didn't make me get nervous, it actually calmed me down. Then slowly a faint mist began to rise up from the pools and fountains. And it wasn't me who was doing it.

A man nearby looked at me sourly as he chanted. I couldn't help but shake my head slightly at him.

Slowly the mist began to thicken. The air grew chillier and darker from the spell/chant they were weaving. My head gradually grew more and more muddled. I started finding it hard to think clearly.

Then there was a burning feeling on my chest and my forehead. It helped to clear my thoughts, though I still felt muddled and confused. I couldn't seem to remember how to breathe.

I blinked hard, and for the first time I noticed everything was becoming blurred by a thick fog. The men's chanting faltered to a stop, and they were angrily looking around. I held my breath; please let this be my friends! Within a minute, the fog had deepened so much I could barely see a foot in front of me. The men had disappeared from view; I was standing there confused and completely alone.

I heard light footsteps running somewhere. Rough voices yelled out in the strange language of these people. Heavy footsteps came from in front of me, thankfully moving away. More light footsteps. My heart pounded against my rib cage.

Suddenly warm hands were placed lightly on my shoulders. I tensed, heart pounding, thinking it had to be one of the men. I felt warm breath tickle my ear. "Cora, come on, it's me. We're getting out of here," a familiar voice whispered to me. I released the breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. It was Hunter; they were here.

I gave a small nod, my nerves still settling down. His hands left my shoulders for a brief moment. Then he put his arm reassuringly around my back, so he could both guide and support me. I didn't need any encouragement to go. We took off, Hunter steering me. He seemed to have no problem seeing through the fog. Maybe it was just from my exhausted and muddled brain that I couldn't.

We ran as fast as we could down the steps and went softly along one of the many pathways. We went as quickly as I could manage, but it wasn't fast enough.

As it turned out, I was worse off than I had been thinking (and I had been thinking I was pretty weak). We were trying to get around the hall and back to the opening they had come through. At least, that's what I thought we were doing; I could only assume it was them I had seen as the 'dot' of colour.

It didn't go to well though. We were still navigating through the fog when we heard it. The heavy sound of stone grinding against stone. It was moving fast, as if it was running footsteps. It was coming front somewhere in front of us.

Upon hearing that sound, I skidded to a halt, swaying back and forth nervously.

"What is it?" Hunter asked me quietly. Gradually the sound was growing louder. I was so nervous I couldn't speak. "It's one of them, isn't it?" he said after a pause. I nodded and Hunter nearly let out a curse. Looked like it was time to change tactics.

Breaking into a run, we headed to the left. All of a sudden, we were out of the fog. Percy really is a Seaweed Brain if he didn't cover the whole hall intentionally.

Directly in front of us was a long dark hallway leading further into this maze of a place. Pausing in front of it, I risked a glance back.

A second later I saw Percy and Annabeth running in our direction. Their faces had a look of alarm on as they charged past us into the tunnel.

We stood frozen for a second, and then raced after them. Anything that made Percy and Annabeth run, I was running from too.

We all ran for a few paces, just barely getting into the tunnel. Suddenly, Percy and Annabeth ducked to the right. They were hiding inside an alcove. There was one on the left directly across from it.

Me and Hunter stumbled into the one on the left and collapsed on the ground. Our bodies were pushed back out of the way of the tunnel.

It wasn't more than a few seconds before the sound of many heavy footsteps rang. A moment later we dimly saw legs and feet run by. No one checked the dark alcoves.

Once they past, we let out the breath we had both been holding. I slumped against the wall, my head pounding. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes.

"You feeling okay?" Hunter whispered to me.

"I'll – I'll be fine," I managed; my voice airy and cracking. "Can you just untie me, please?" Just by saying that, my head ached. Gods this was not good.

Immediately Hunter got started. I felt his fingers move gently across my wrists. It tingled slightly. He went on in vain for a minute; the knots just wouldn't come undone. He paused for a moment, cursing under his breath. Then I heard a small metallic ring. I felt the faint feel of cold metal against my skin. With a few strokes he slashed through the cords binding my wrists.

My hands dropped limply. With another few slashes, the ropes tying my arms to my side fell away. I breathed a sigh of relief. Feebly I moved my arms to in front of me. They started to tingle and felt like they were being pricked with needles. Groaning I stretched my limbs, trying to get the blood flowing again.

I bit my lip hard, feeling the inside of my jacket unsticking from the scrapes and cuts on my upper arms. My wrists stung, and so did my arms as fabric brushed against them. I felt a tingling start at the top of my arms, gradually moving down my arms. Making it feel like they were being stuck constantly with pins.

For a minute, I just sat there getting the blood back into my arms and hands the best I could.

Then I vaguely saw Percy's face appeared in front of me out of the gloom. He beckoned with his hand, and the disappeared back into the darkness. Me and Hunter looked at each other for a second, before crawling across the passageway into the alcove across.

The one Percy and Annabeth had ducked into was much bigger. It was about twice the size and easily fit all four of us.

My head spun, and my vision was fuzzy for a minute.

Percy pulled out Riptide and uncapped it, the enchanted bronze sword casting a faint glow. All three of them looked at me worriedly. Did I look that bad? Apparently . . . But that wasn't important right now. What was important was getting out of here.

* * *

Let me put it this way . . . no plan every works out like it's suppose to for me! As soon as we had raced down into the fog to rescue Cora, we were swarmed. Using the fog as cover, we did manage to evade the men. But we had no way of getting out of there, or knowing if Hunter had managed to get to Cora. That was his part in this.

We had raced away from the men as best we could, with me maintaining the fog. Me and Annabeth accidentally ran out into a spot clear of fog. And that was not my fault! I didn't know it wasn't covered!

Anyway, standing there was Cora and Hunter. That was one consolation. Behind them was a passageway. We raced past them into it, and a moment later we heard them follow us.

It was a sheer stroke of luck to run into the alcove. Once we had dived inside, and after I had judged to be a suitable amount of time, I crawled partway out and motioned for the others to come over in our surprisingly large alcove.

Once they joined us, I uncapped Riptide and the small space was illuminated by the glow of my sword. In its light, that was the first chance I actually got to look at Cora. I felt horrified by it.

Cora's skin was deathly pale and drawn tight. Her eyes had a lost the old confidence and strength, now they were nervous and unsure. She looked frail and thin, I wondered if she had had anything to eat. Probably not. Above her left temple was blood. It ran down her face all the way to her jaw. It was clumped up around the cut, and I think it was pulsing slightly. The blood was dark, not the dark dried blood colour, a shade lighter. That made me worried; her head had been bleeding again.

She looked at me, and I saw she had absolutely no idea what to do. She was depending on us completely. Even if she knew what to do, she wouldn't be able to do anything, she looked that bad. I felt angry; no one has the right to do this to someone. Least of all my amnesiac sister. I wanted to charge down back into the hall and take out those men one by one. But I knew that wouldn't be right, they were mortals and I couldn't go around killing them, no matter what they did to the people I cared about.

I slung off my backpack and pulled out a canteen of Nectar. I offered it to Cora, and when she grabbed it I noticed her wrists were cut up. I mean, I knew she had been bound, but not so tightly that that would happen! Cora gratefully drank some Nectar and passed the canteen back to me. Straight away the colour returned slightly to her skin, and her wounds close up a bit. I placed the canteen back in my bag and looked worriedly at her.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her, keeping my voice low.

"I'll be fine," she said. I noticed how she said she would be fine, not that she was fine. I sighed inaudibly, so far, phase two was not working out. I should probably explain what our plan had been.

In our first phase, that had been to sneak in and create a cover with the fog. Phase two had been for Hunter to grab Cora and led her back towards the tunnel while me and Annabeth covered for them by fighting the men. The last phase had been we all get out through the tunnel. As you can clearly see, that did not work out at all.

"Okay, so we need a new plan," I said thinking. "Annabeth can you -"

"Yes," she said answering my unfinished sentence. She stood up and stepped out of the alcove, putting her invisibility cap on her head. She vanished and we just had to wait now. After a few minutes I heard a few light footsteps around me then Annabeth shimmered into existence. Sitting back down I noticed the pleased look she had in her grey eyes.

"We're lucky," she said. "The tunnel is straightforward and it doubles back into the hall. The exit is closer to the escape tunnel, only about a few hundred feet. If we distract the men for long enough we can get out." A little piece of luck in this chaos, now we just had to use it.

"So we distract them and Cora makes a break for it," I said. I looked back and forth between the others; Annabeth was thinking hard, Cora was looking at me a little annoyed. What did I do?

"I don't think that will work," she said. "You don't understand, these men . . . it's weird, but they almost seemed to know when you are going to do something. They could predict what I had been thinking. Besides, I'm not running from these men." She looked defiant, weak and scared, but she still had the same look of defiance as always. I sighed and looked at her.

"Cora . . ." I said quietly. "I understand where you're coming from, really I do. But it's too risky. We don't know about these men, you're hurt, and right now we need to focus on getting out of here. We can't face these men now." Cora opened her mouth to respond but I cut her off by holding up my hand. I had a pretty good feeling of what she was going to say.

"Yes, that's a possibility, but judging by how my luck has always been, we will probably meet them again. But we need to focus on getting out of here." For a second I thought she was going to yell at me or something, then she thought better of it and just nodded grumpily. I looked over to Annabeth; sure she was going to say something. Her eyes seemed to be just coming back into focus.

"I think I know how to make this work to please everyone," she said thoughtfully. "We will need a distraction, and I don't think the fog will help too much now. So I was thinking . . . Well, Cora, do you think you can shoot? Providing you still have your bow. I was thinking that you could shoot a couple arrows, to disorganize them. Then we make a break for it. So can you shoot?" I was surprised, but then again, this was Annabeth, she always thought things through. But my main concern with that wasn't the plan itself, it was if Cora could cope.

"I . . . I think I should be able to," Cora said. I need to stop underestimating my sister, she deserves much more credit then I give her.

The others looked at me expectantly, I gave a firm nod and we rose to our feet.

Me and Annabeth stepped out of the alcove. Cora reached into her pouch and pulled out her twig – I mean bow. Her bow.

She held it out in front of her and it exploded into her bow. She slipped her quiver over her head, wincing; and we set off down the tunnel with Annabeth in the lead.

As we went down the tunnel, I thought I heard a faint whispering behind me. But I couldn't make out any words and half the time I couldn't hear it. I'm pretty sure it was Cora explaining everything to Hunter. I thought about mentioning that they should stick together in there, but since they were best friends and Hunter did follow Cora on the quest - that was already pretty obvious.

We reached the exit of the tunnel and halted. Cora drew two arrows from her quiver and knocked them. I was relieved she wasn't trying to shoot five (Cora actually could do that; she tried it back at Camp. Her aim wasn't exactly that good, but she still shot them no problem and they hit the target).

Cora nodded to let me know she was ready. With that oh-so-familiar tug in my gut, a faint mist began to cover the hall. Not too thick, we could still see quite well, but it would be enough to confuse our enemy.

I motioned with my hand, and together we sprinted towards the exit. At first everything seemed to going perfectly. There was no one; it was as if they had left. I started to relax, maybe they had moved to a different area looking for us. That was my mistake.

We were almost there, maybe another hundred yards, then the appeared. They surrounded us, the warriors and a couple of those robed men. They just appeared, almost out of thin air. They formed a loose ring around us.

Before I could even react, two arrows exploded at the feet of some men. They burst open and wires lashed out and wrapped around the men tightly. Hydra arrows. I never knew she had those.

A second later, a few regular arrows were lodged in various men's weak points. Unfortunally, I was just staring shocked at this while a fight had started everywhere else.

I was brought back to the situation when a sword stroke glanced off my shoulder and the blade shattered. That jarred me; I pulled out my pen and uncapped it, Riptide springing to life in my hand.

The warrior had already lost his sword, so all I had to do was bang him on the head with the hilt of my sword and watch him crumple. That's the problem with dressing for defence; your own armour becomes your downfall.

For the next few minutes I was busy knocking out people. I tried getting near some of those robed men, but it didn't work. All of them seemed to be ignoring me. I saw one of them slash at Annabeth, their seemed to be more around her. I couldn't see Cora or Hunter.

I was racing towards Annabeth, when suddenly a golden glow appeared around her, then around me. Then two more domes of golden energy appeared. The men all slowly backed up, I looked over and saw Cora looking around in confusion; her sword in hand and shield on arm. I didn't know how she did it, but her ability to do this is amazing.

"Cora, run for it!" I yelled at her noticing how the men had now moved so she had a clear path to the exit. "We'll hold them off!" Then I ran for the men. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her run.

For a few minutes, I was fighting alone. Then Annabeth was fighting next to me. We fought back to back, and I noticed she had a cut on her arm and a couple bruises. She probably had more cuts.

"I think they're out, let's go," Annabeth managed to tell me under her breath. I did notice how the domes had faded, and that all the men were around us. I gave a nod. But now we had to get out of here.

With a yell, I willed the water nearby up and swirled it around me and Annabeth; blasting the men around us to the ground.

We ran for it, scrambling up the steep incline to make it back to the tunnel. The men threw a couple swords in desperation at us. One or two threw javelins. But I kept Annabeth above me so if anything reached us; it would hit my invincible body (hopefully). Once at the top, we raced down the musty smelling tunnel and slowly made our way to the open air beyond.

* * *

I hate to admit it, but I was really lying when I said I was okay to shoot. I was feeling much better after having some Nectar, but I still wasn't feeling the best. I felt faint as we went down the tunnel and began running out towards the exit.

It was comforting to be with my friends and for the light mist to be concealing us. Unfortunally, it didn't help much.

I sensed the men coming, before we actually saw them. I could tell where they were, but judging by the faces of the others, they couldn't.

Hefting my bow, I drew back. It hurt, my arms were sore and I could barely draw back. I was fighting to hold the bow. I aimed the best I could and fired. Drawing two more, I fired a few more rounds. But at that time the men were to close for me to shoot.

In relief I pulled my quiver off my back and shrunk it and my bow down. I put it back in my pouch. I thought I'd have to use my dagger – since my sword had flown out of my hand when these men got me. But I found it in there; without really thinking I pulled it out and held it in my hand.

It felt a bit heavier than usual; gods I really was doing badly. On instinct I opened my shield (I was surprised they didn't take it. But then again, my hands had been tied the whole time) and a second later I heard a clang and the feeling of impact went through me.

For the next few minutes I was busy fighting. Several men were around me. Not as many as you think there would be, but they probably knew I was weak. I was playing a defensive game. I was weak and hard pressed, too slow to notice any opening for attack. All I could do was defend and hope for the best.

Slowly I grew more and more exhausted. I could barely keep up, and every hit went through my body like an electric shock. I staggered around. I was losing this fight, and there was nothing I could do about it. My friends were busy fighting themselves, and I couldn't get a second to breathe.

Weakly I lifted my shield and this time when the stroke made contact I stumbled backwards.

Straight away, I began feeling a tingling all over me. It seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't place it. It grew more and more powerful when suddenly: BAM! I saw the men fly backwards and fall to the ground. I looked around in confusion, the tingling feeling growing fainter, yet stronger at the same time – if that made any sense. Then I saw it.

This giant dome of glowing, sparkling golden energy. This giant dome of pure energy surrounding me like a force field. I looked at it bewildered, I did this? This was me?

I noticed three other domes a seemingly random spots. Did that mean it was more, ones protecting my friends? This was me; I had somehow created giant force fields. All I could do was looked at this in confusion and surprise.

Suddenly I heard, "Cora, run for it! We'll hold them off!" I turned my head to the right and saw I had a clear path to the exit. I didn't really want to leave my friends, but maybe the domes would hold long enough . . . in a split second I made a decision. I ran for it.

As I ran, I changed my sword back to its charm form and placed it in my pouch. I reached the rocky path/wall and began to scramble up the best I could. My head was pounding and my sight was slightly fuzzy. I was panting. I really wished I was invincible then; rather than being that lucky I had to block with my shield whenever I could.

I could only have been climbing a minute and I was making extremely slow progress. I heard light footsteps behind me. At first I thought it was one of the men or something. I started to turn around, but then I saw who it was. He motioned for me to keep going, grabbing my hand as he ran past me.

I ran as hard as I could, my heart pounding, my head swimming. Hunter had to guide me, helping me over the hardest parts. I couldn't have made it otherwise. We reached the tunnel and charged through it. Under normal circumstances, I would have beaten Hunter by a couple minutes, now I was barely keeping pace with him.

Sunlight appeared ahead, and the tunnel widened on to a cliff ledge. We burst out and I fell to my knees, closing my eyes against the spinning of my head. I drew a few deep breaths before sitting up straight.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I opened my eyes.

"We need to keep moving," Hunter said softly.

"No," I managed, shaking my head stubbornly. "Not yet, not while Percy and Annabeth are still in there." I tapped my shield at that moment, and it shrunk back into my bracelet.

"It's not safe here, please, I can tell you're tired. But we have to keep moving," he said. Hunter stood and tried me to make me stand as well. I sat there for a moment before standing up a little too quickly. My head spun.

"I'm not going, I'm not leaving them," I said again. Hunter sighed in annoyance. I looked as hard and stubbornly at him as I could, but it somehow strained my head, so I gave up and just stood there. Hunter looked at me pleadingly, but didn't bother actually trying. Guess he knew just how stubborn I was . . . Suddenly I noticed a large cut on his arm and a black eye.

Before I could completely freak out at that, I heard footsteps. Turning around I saw dim shapes coming out of the tunnel. A second later Percy and Annabeth were there with us. They both looked surprised to see us standing there, but we didn't have time to talk.

We went as fast as we could down the mountainside. Could they not have picked an easier path? This wasn't exactly easy at the moment.

It took several minutes, the sun was almost down and the sky had turned a beautiful shade of purple by the time we had made it down. Oh gods, how long was I in there for? The rising moon was in _not _in the same phase as before. Wait, why was I even noticing that?

When we finally did reach the base, we took off through the rocky ground. We ran, and ran, and ran. We just kept going, when we suddenly stumbled upon a forest. What a forest was doing near mountains, I wasn't sure. But together we charge in and left the threatening mountains behind in exchange for the welcoming shadows of the forests.

**A/N: They're safe! Quite a few hiccups along the way, but they're no longer having to worry about the kidnappers . . . or will they? Was this just a passing enemy, or something more sinister? With me, you can honestly never tell, because I can never tell myself! So tell me vie either review or fav or alert if you enjoyed this and what you think! Thank you readers, and I will be with you for a few more weeks . . . I have only a few completed chapters left.**


	35. We Learn of an Unreal Enemy

**A/N: So last week's chapter was one of, like, three climaxes (don't ask, it makes sense to me!) and now we continue on! I'm so freakin' busy right now though with grade eleven and the fact I'm volunteering at an animal hospital . . . there goes all my free time. The only empty day I have is Sunday (day of rest . . . mine, all MINE!). Anyways. Enough of my tale of woe. Enjoy your chapter!**

Percy: We Learn of an Unreal Enemy

I was grateful for the sudden woods. It covered us, and we could keep going. We ran for possibly hours. Cora kept insisting we go on. She refused to stop and rest – at all. I think that encounter really freaked her. Every time I suggested we stop she'd protest and wouldn't stop.

Eventually I had to make her stop. She was barely keeping up with us and she was fully leaning on Hunter now. I didn't even think she was really conscience, because knowing my sister she hated help from anyone. She was stumbling along with her eyes half closed. When I saw that I didn't let us go any further. We had gone far enough that night and I was worried about Cora's health.

Once she did stop, she sank gratefully down to her knees. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she swayed slightly. I wondered again how long she had been in there for . . . about three, four days maybe. And with no food or water . . . I knew the human body can survive for five days without water, and a week without food. It was a surprise she was still conscience. I knew she had to be in pain.

Me and Annabeth sat down, tired. Annabeth had a couple slashes, but other than that she looked okay. Hunter had a black eye and his left arm was bloody. He sat down next to Cora and helped steady her with his good arm.

As soon as he did, she just collapsed. Her body slumped, all the strength knocked out of it. She sagged against him, her eyes closed and her breathing faint and erratic. I knew she was doing badly then.

Once at Camp, I accidentally gave her a few nasty cuts, and even then she hadn't complained nor accepted my offer for help as we went to get Ambrosia and Nectar. Cora never once accepted help when it came to a matter of her strength.

She probably wanted to sleep right then. Her body was so drained and weak her mind would be shutting down. And that was what I was afraid of. If she fell asleep in that state, she might never wake up. Immediately I slung my bag off and rummaged through it. I pulled out a canteen of water, and a not-so-fresh bag of apple slices.

Crawling over to her I said, "Cora, Cora, please don't fall asleep yet. You need to eat and drink this first." Her sea green eyes fluttered open and she looked at me annoyed.

"Later . . ." she mumbled. "I'm too tired . . ."

"Well whose fault is that?" I rolled my eyes then sighed. "Cora, you're weak and your body needs nutrition, come on. Just take it and then you can sleep or whatever."

Reluctantly, she sat up; the look in her eyes was disoriented. She clearly couldn't think straight. She took the canteen and baggie slowly. I left her to eat on those while I looked once again into my bag. I pulled out all the remaining food and canteen's and divided them up between me, Annabeth, and Hunter as equally as I could.

I thought I did pretty well, but Annabeth muttered something about math skills and rearranged it slightly. We ate slowly, not wanting to make ourselves sick.

Once finished, I started a fire (a small one, we were in a forest after all) and we gradually warmed ourselves up. Me and Annabeth stayed up, while the younger ones went into an exhausted sleep. I couldn't blame them. They were beat up, and Cora had probably used up a ton of energy creating her force field thingys.

I sat there staring into the flames, my arm around Annabeth's waist as she leaned against me. Her eyes had that faraway look and I knew the events of today were running through her mind as she tried to make sense of it.

"I'm worried about them," she said eventually. "None of it makes sense and they're caught in the middle of this." Her words sent a shiver down my spine.

"I'm worried too," I said quietly. "For all of us. Who were those people?"

Next to me Annabeth sighed. "I don't know. I can't think of anything like them. Nothing Greek that is."

"Roman, maybe?" I asked, immediately knowing that it was a vain hope.

"I don't know, I don't know," she said. "But I intend to find out. Tomorrow, when Cora's feeling better we'll talk to her. Maybe then I can figure something out . . . oh I'm too tired, I'm going to sleep." She stretched out on her back and closed her eyes.

"Thank for asking if I could do watch," I muttered under my breath. I threw more wood on to the fire and settle back for the night.

The next morning, Cora was looking a lot better. The colour had returned to her face and her eyes showed she was lucid. We gave her the bulk of the little food left in Annabeth's bag (I really want to know how she fits that all in). We had just enough for tonight, then we'd need more. We had to find someplace to buy food by then.

We didn't talk much that day. We travelled through the woods, attempting to get out. According to Annabeth's maps we headed in a somewhat north-westerly direction to get back to Phoenix. I was slightly dreading heading back, but that was the only clue we had to this.

Plus Annabeth mentioned she could find out what she wanted faster with Internet so . . . Phoenix was our best bet.

That night we were all tired. We had completely forgotten about Hunter's cut. He didn't say anything about it, so we figured it wasn't a big deal. That is until we stopped for the night. Then we realized what a big deal it was. He had just cleaned it, and I saw it was in a peculiar pattern. It was somewhat shaped like \l/. Aside from the odd shape, according to my translator of a sister, he said something felt like it was lodged inside. Annabeth took a closer look at it.

"There's a sliver of metal deep inside. It'll need to come out," she said. "But I'm not sure how to do it."

"A dagger," Cora suggested. "You could use a dagger tip to pry it out. If you have steady hands." She certainly sounded a lot better. After a pause she added, "Why do I even know that?"

"I don't know," I said shrugging. "But as long as it works, hey, we're good. Could we use yours? Since we don't really have another . . ." With a slight roll of her eyes, she pulled her Tempest Silver dagger out of its sheath and offered it to us hilt first. Annabeth took it and held it ready.

"Que fait-elle? Pourquoi me le montre-t-elle?" Hunter yelped pushing himself backwards away from Annabeth. His eyes were wide and nervous.

"Hunter, calmez-vous s'il vous plaît," Cora said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Elle va essayer et sortir l'éclat de métal. Tenez juste toujours." Hunter looked at Cora, then at Annabeth, then he glanced back at Cora and nodded.

"Parfait," he managed dryly. Cora gave a faint, tiny smile and turned to us.

"Alright," she said.

I wish I could say things went smoothly. To tell the truth, it was not an easy task. Annabeth was talented with knives and dagger, she could designed any building, and understand just about any math equation, but she is not – I repeat not meant for doing surgical stuff.

She tried her hardest, but it reminded me of when she worked on the bronze dragon (you probably remember him as Festus). She only vaguely knew what she was doing. Cora tried to give her advice, but she was mostly just blurting out whatever came to her.

Hunter did his best to remain still, but it was pretty obvious he was in a lot of pain. He was stiff and tense, his hands clenched until his knuckles turned white. His arm was completely covered in blood, and the piece of metal didn't seem to be coming out. Annabeth carefully poked at his wound, trying to get the metal out, but as painful as it seemed, he didn't cry out.

Annabeth's face was beaded in sweat with concentration when she pulled out a long, thin sliver covered in blood. Annabeth's fingers were coated in wet and dry blood. She dropped the sliver next to her, and I saw it glinted a little like Celestial bronze. Annabeth wiped her forehead with her arm and took a shaky breath.

"There's still a piece in there, but it's too deep for me to get out," she said. "It's all I can do now. He'll need a trained medic eventually, until then the wound won't close up properly. Sorry I can't do anymore." She wiped the blood off of Cora's dagger and handed it back to her. Cora slipped it into her sheath and quietly relayed things to Hunter. He looked pained, but didn't complain.

I looked up at the sky and saw that the sky was setting, creating a sky of vibrant orange. I sighed and noticed the others were looking at me expectantly. I know I'm supposed to be a leader and all, but sometimes I just get so stressed and wired that I couldn't think properly. I thought for a minute, then let out a deep breath.

"We should set up camp for the night," I said. "We can't continue safely until morning." Annabeth nodded and together we took out what was left of our food supplies. We divided it as evenly as we could and ate fast. We were ravenous; we had barely eaten all day. After we finished, Hunter layed down to sleep. I felt sorry for the kid; he was having a rotten day.

For a while we just sat there in silence. Me and Annabeth wanted to talk to Cora about everything, but she just sat there hugging her knees and staring into the fire. After a long time Annabeth caught my eye and gave a small nod. I took a deep breath, but before I could say anything . . .

"I know what you're going to ask, and I don't want to talk about," Cora said. I looked at her sadly.

"Cora, we know it's not very easy for you to talk about it but . . ." I trailed off.

"But what?"

"We need to know who those people were and what they want with you," Annabeth finished. Cora looked at us for a second, then closed her eyes, shaking slightly.

"Please, don't make me do it," she whispered. "I don't want to think about it for a while."

"Cora, just tell us what you learned. We want to know what happened. After that, we won't mention it again, okay?" I said. She swallowed nervously and nodded once.

"I – I think I might know who those men were," she murmured. "But you're not going to like it." She shuddered and took a deep breath.

"I think we can handle it," Annabeth assured her.

Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms tighter around her legs. "Do . . . do you guys remember that web page we looked at on the train in Quebec?"

I thought for a minute, "Yeah, the one that had the only info on the Mormo." Cora nodded and squeezed her legs tighter.

"Do you also remember that picture? The one with the snakes and bugs," she paused and drew a shaky breath. "I – I saw that image carved in that place. It – it was constantly used with . . . other symbols. But . . . what I don't get is . . . wouldn't that mean . . . ?" she couldn't finished a sentence, she was literally shaking.

"But . . . aren't they . . . a legend?" I said confused.

"I thought they were . . ." Annabeth said quietly. "But apparently they're not." Annabeth looked worried. I looked at Cora, her eyes were squeezed shut and she was clearly terrified. Those men, they had done this.

"What were they called again? Dark Day or something?" I said.

"Darkest Dawn," Annabeth supplied. "But Cora, what did they want with you?" Cora opened her eyes and looked _scared_.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," she said. I scooted over to her and gave her a hug. She didn't really want it, but I refused to let up and eventually she stopped struggling. "You are an annoying brother," she whispered.

"And you're an annoying sister, so we're even," I shot back, earning a glimmer of a smile from her. "But you still need to tell us what the Darkest Dawn wanted with you." I sat back and folded my arms, she looked at me sadly, then stared into the fire.

"I . . . I think they wanted . . . _me,_" she said. "I know it sounds weird but . . . the things that man told me . . ."

"What did they tell you?" Annabeth asked, suddenly alert.

"They – they said I was one of them," Cora muttered. "That I had been injured and you guys were my enemies and lying to me. I didn't believe them." We were silent, hearing this.

"That's probably what they were going to do," I murmured thinking.

"What?"

"You didn't believe them. The reason they were all gathered there, they were probably going to do some voodoo magic and manipulate you. Do something to make you think they were telling the truth. At least, that's what I think," I said. Cora bit her lip and shuddered.

"I don't want to admit you're probably right," she said under her breath.

"But you just did," I said confused.

"Did what?"

"You . . . oh forget it," I gave up. My sister, even when in this state, still does this to me.

"Does this mean we can drop the subject, please?" she asked. I held her eyes for a second, and saw she was doing all she could to hold herself together (she'd kill me for saying that). I nodded.

"Yeah, go ahead and sleep," I said.

She released a grateful breath and lay down, curling up into a little ball. Within a minute, I heard her breathing even out and I knew she was asleep.

Annabeth sighed and looked up at the stars. I poked at the fire for a moment before adding more fuel. I felt ready to snap, I was fed up with this. These riddles, these impossible quests, but mostly I was fed up with how my sister was tied up in all of this.

Next to me Annabeth took a deep breath. "Percy?"

"Yes?"

"If it really is the Darkest Dawn as our enemy . . ."

"Yes?"

"Then I don't know what we're supposed to do. I don't know much about these people. I don't know how we can win."

"Hey, calm down," I reassured her. "Like I've said many times before, we _never _know what we're doing. It always turns out okay, we'll be fine. Just relax a little."

"I suppose you're right," she sighed.

"I'm always right." At that she laughed. She leaned against me and I wrapped my arm around her. We sat there in silence, staring up at the stars or into the fire. It was a beautiful night. With Annabeth here beside me, the moonlight, the stars, it was perfect. It helped me forget about the quest and everything. At least for a little while.

**A/N: *grins* Dun-dun-duuunnnn. So as you can see, the whole experience kinda freaked out Cora. Then again I'm not surprised, seeing as I know her past. Anyone'd be freaked out. Oh, and on my deviantART account, I put up my sketch of Cora . . . y'all can see what she looks like now! Minus my limited drawing skills . . . so let me know you thoughts through either review or fav or alert! See you in a week!**


	36. Visit of Night Lightning

**A/N: Reason for not updating last week: I was setting up a campsite in the rain. Not that fun. Ah well, can't control the weather. So here's the chapter, somethings may be blatantly obvious to you, or they may not be. If they are – just remember what they all just went though. It'll make more sense once you read. Enjoy.**

Cora: Visit of Night Lightning

I wish I could say I had a peaceful sleep. Truthfully, I had far from it. I was worried sick about Hunter, the wound, well it looked horrible. He didn't tell me, but I knew he had to be in pain. He probably didn't want to stress me out any more, and I was already about as stressed as a person could be.

I also was a bit annoyed with Annabeth and Percy. I did not have a fun time envisioning that place. I had had that entire day to just, think. That was how I realized why those carvings had chilled me. I had seen most of them before. And the most commonly reoccurring symbol was of course the symbol of the Darkest Dawn. So, them having me talk about it hadn't been good. I know they needed to know, but I still could hardly think about it without my blood beginning to run cold.

Surprisingly, I fell asleep fast. I was out after about a minute of lying down. I was exhausted, so it was a relief to sleep. At least, for most of the night I was asleep. Until my peaceful rest was interrupted by that _stupid_ voice.

_Wake up, wake up, you must wake up, _it whispered in my head. It cut through my sleeping mind like a knife blade. _You need to wake up now! _It took me a couple minutes, but I managed to wake up from the dark depths of my mind. Yawning in the back of my throat, I blinked my eyes repeatedly.

Rolling my shoulders I sat up and looked around. I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision. The fire had dimmed to darkened embers, but for some reason I could see as clearly as if it was day. Hunter was lying next to me, looking peaceful and calm in sleep. I smiled slightly; all the pain I had read on his face earlier was gone, hidden by sleep. The bandage on his arm had blood seeping through the top. I felt a stab and pain and guilt. Because I had been captured he had to put himself in danger and had gotten hurt in the process.

I reached out on impulse and gently touched his arm next to the bandage. He twitched like he had been shocked and said something airily under his breath. I pulled my hand back and held my breath, hoping I hadn't woken him; because really, I hadn't been meaning too. A moment later his breathing evened out, and I knew he was still asleep. I sighed and looked away from his sleeping form.

On the other side of the fire, Percy and Annabeth were sitting up against each other asleep. I rolled my eyes and sighed at them. One of them was _suppose _to be keeping watch. Yet here they were, fast asleep against each other. I had to admit, they did look cute together right then. But still, they shouldn't both be sleeping; a monster could easily sneak up on us otherwise.

At that thought I tensed, was that why I had woken? Had that annoying voice known something was out there, hungering for us, and woken me? Unlikely, since it only gave unhelpful advice, but still . . . you never know. Worried that that could be the reason, I sat up straight and looked around our small clearing.

At first I couldn't notice anything, just my friends sleeping and the fire light dancing against the trees.

Then I heard something, the faint sound of movement. I held my breath and rested my hand on my dagger – just in case. Branches and leaves rustled lightly, and I heard the sound of feet. No . . . it wasn't feet; it was too light and it didn't sound like two legs. It was paws. The faint sound of four paws grew slightly louder.

My heart beat harder, this had to be why I had woken. Something was out there, something that wasn't human. But how had I woken before the sound of its paws was noticeable?

The trees across from me shook and a small, wet triangle-shaped nose poked through the undergrowth. Suddenly two golden eyes appeared above, staring at me intently.

I pulled my dagger out my sheath slightly, exposing an inch of the silver blade.

The animal growled deep in its throat. It padded forward a few steps, its head coming into view, revealing itself as a white wolf. Its fur was neat and trimmed, and it looked almost like it could be tame. Its lips were curled back in a snarl, its teeth were bared and the growling in its throat increased.

I was tempted to put my dagger away – something told me this type of wolves weren't dangerous. But it looked angry and I wasn't anxious to sit before it unarmed. I held its golden eyes for a second, then in bolted to me.

As soon as it did, I pulled my dagger fully out of its sheath and held it ready.

The wolf came to a stop a foot away from me. It crouched and snarled ferociously at me.

Before either me or the wolf could make a move, I heard a pair of footsteps running in my direction from behind the wolf. A minute later a teenage girl ran into the tiny clearing. She paused and looked at me and the wolf.

She was wearing a silver tee shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of black hiking boots. She was also wearing a leather jacket studded with pins with band names. She had spiky black hair that reached just past her shoulders. There was a silver tiara across her brow, and her electric blue eyes looked dangerously calm.

"Nyssa, heel," she commanded. In front of me the wolf stopped snarling and sat down calmly. I blinked in surprise and looked between the girl and the wolf. The girl looked at me calmly for a moment, before her face broke into a grin. "Thank the gods, I finally found you guys. Oh, you can put your dagger away now. Nyssa's harmless, as am I."

I frowned and lowered my dagger, unsure whether or not I should. "Who are you?" I asked suspiciously. "What are you doing here? What do you want?" The girl hesitated, then sat down next to the fire and faced me.

"I want to tell you but . . ." she paused and sighed. "I can't, I'm forbidden too. And I'm here to talk to you. Don't be alarmed! You and I actually know each other, and Cora I know -" she stumbled to a halt as I lifted my dagger threateningly. She blinked and regarded me as if I was nothing.

"H – How do you know my name?" I whispered. The girl sighed and gave me a pained smile.

"Like I said, you and I know each other quite well. Put your dagger away, I promise you I mean no harm," she said. I looked into her electric blue eyes and understood that she was telling the truth. Holding her gaze, images flashed through my mind. Dense trees, the howl of wolves, the twang of bows, a glowing full moon. I blinked a couple times before nodding slightly and slipping my dagger away. The girl smiled. "Good, I'm glad to see your okay – for the most part."

"How do you know me?" I asked her shyly. I knew this girl was part of my past, but I couldn't remember how. All I knew was she and I had known each, I had just the vaguest feeling.

"I wish I could tell you, but I can't, I am sorry for that," she said. "But we don't have time to chat. I can't spend any longer here then necessary. I'm here to show something to you, and warn you." She paused and took a deep breath.

"Warn me about what?" I asked. I was already on edge, and when a random girl from your unknown past shows up in the middle of the night in the middle of the woods – you become alert. The girl looked at me sadly for a second.

"You remember your prophecy?" I blinked in surprise, how did she know about my prophecy? This was just plain creepy, yet I still felt like I could trust her. I looked at her for a minute before nodding.

"Of course, I can't forget something like that," I said. She looked at me pointedly, and I sighed. "Fine. _Child of power, born of the sea; holds great power to the key, life or death within her grasp, must soon make a decision fast; to her heart an endless battle, but true peace to end the lattle. _There, happy?" The girl gave a small smile and chuckled, before turning serious again.

"You're still the same. And normally I'd use a comeback – but I'll be nice and won't," she muttered. I frowned and folded my arm. "But that's beside the point. You already know that it hints at . . . trouble, and you need to be on your guard. It hints at more than you think, apparently. And T\the 'life or death within her grasp' line, ugh, how do I put this?"

"It means someone's going to be almost killed?" I suggested, getting the tiniest bit annoyed. The girl glared at me, giving me a perfect ten on the Death Glare Scale. I swallowed and avoided looking directly into her eyes. She looked really scary.

"Shut up. That is not what I meant," she said. "Gods, this is impossible to explain without . . . why did she make me do this?" she kept muttering to herself for a minute. Eventually I got fed up and cleared my throat. "Err, right, sorry. Anyways, my warning is to beware of D.D. whatever that means, and uh, something about metal? I don't really know; just beware of D.D. and some metal thing. Okay?"

I stared at her for a second. D.D.? Metal things? This girl's warning made no sense. And how did it relate to my prophecy? Well, it probably did, but I'd think about it later.

I nodded and looked at her a little confused. "Sure. Uh, you said you also had to show me something . . . ? Mind explaining?" The other girl nodded and sighed.

"Right," she paused, thinking. "I was actually hoping you might remember it, but I guess not. Take off your jacket." I raised my eyebrows at her, completely lost.

"What?" I asked. "What does that have to do with you showing me some – oo-oh." I felt really stupid not getting it at first. Maybe it was just the fact I was so tired, probably.

The girl nodded once, semi-rolling her eyes. I glanced at her annoyed, and then ignored her.

I pulled my jacket off and placed it next to me. It felt odd not to be wearing it. I had only taken it off, maybe once, and I had grown used to it. Being in nothing more than a tee shirt after always wearing a jacket – is weird.

The girl moved closer to me, so she was sitting directly in front of me. I looked at her curiously as she hummed something under her breath and tapped my upper left arm in a pattern.

Looking at the spot she had tapped me on I felt, rather than saw, a moonbeam brighten and bend to touch my arm. A spot on my arm tingled strangely.

Suddenly before my eyes a pattern emerged on my skin. It looked like it was made of pale silver dust. It was of a sword and behind the sword, poking out, was the top of a trident; the tattoo was surrounded by a swirling of delicate silver bubbles.

"Wow," I breathed. I felt it was a pretty good representation of who I was. I knew it meant something, but I couldn't tell what. It was right on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't get it out. "But, what is it?" I asked the girl eventually. It was a bit embarrassing to have to ask, but I couldn't remember!

I lifted my head to look at the girl, and she looked disappointed. "I was hoping you'd remember," she murmured. "But I guess not. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. I could only show you, not explain." She held a hand up to stop me from interrupting. "I don't make the rules; I just follow them . . . most of the time."

"Oh fine," I grumbled. "Don't tell me." The girl had an unreadable expression on as she glanced up at the sky. She looked at it for a second before sighing. She looked back at me, a sad look in her electric blue eyes.

"I have to go," she said. "I'm almost out of time. I wish I could stay and explain everything but . . ."

"You can't, I understand," I assured her.

"Yeah," she sighed. Then she snapped her fingers, making the wolf jump. "Oh! I just remembered something, I'll be right back!" She leapt to her feet and raced off back into the trees, leaving me alone with the wolf.

A minute later the girl ran back into our campsite with a small sack in her hand. She set it down near the fire and stood near the edge of the trees. I looked from her to the sack and back again, confused.

"There's enough food in there to last you all for one day," the girl explained. "The fastest way back to civilization is to head northwest."

I nodded firmly. "Got it, head northwest."

"Yeah, and one more thing. Be careful, there's trouble in more places then you'd expect. Nyssa!" The white wolf was on its feet in an instant and trotting to its mistress. The girl waved bye to me and ran off into the woods. The wolf was gone a second later.

I stared at the spot she had vanished through for a minute. I wished she could have stayed longer, she knew who I was and that alone intrigued me. But she couldn't for whatever reason. I went over what she had told me in my mind. I had a hard time figuring out anything, it didn't make much sense.

I had been sitting there, staring at embers, for a while when I yawned tiredly. I was utterly exhausted. Before I knew it I was lying down and closing my eyes. A moment later I was fast asleep.

**A/N: Oh my. Oh my oh my oh my. Who could that mysterious visitor have been? And what does this mean about Cora's past? Seems to me, things are getting more complicated by the second. Please tell me your thoughts and feelings through either reviews or favs or alerts! I have two more chapters left so . . . we have two more weeks together.**


	37. A Bloody Secret

**A/N: *shifts uncomfortably* So, uh, a bunch of you sort of got the wrong idea about when I was gonna be done . . . so, um, I'm not actually done writing this. By I have two more chapters, I meant I have two more completed chapters, not I have two more and this is done . . . that'd be a very sudden and abrupt ending . . . I actually have a lot more to write I've just hit a block with this one chapter, 'cause I can't figure out what to add to make it reach my appropriate length . . . sorry for the confusion! I will, however, admit I am planning to do a sequel at some point! Now go ahead and read, and enjoy!**

Percy: A Bloody Secret

I awoke suddenly the next morning feeling bewildered. I couldn't remember falling asleep; I was just suddenly asleep. But I could remember the dream I had.

In my dream, Artemis had visited me - well, sort of, more like her voice and the feeling of a presence. She told me that in the morning I'd receive some news and that Annabeth and I weren't to let on we knew certain things. We were to act as if we only knew what we had been told, because otherwise it might ruin things. I didn't fully understand, but I guessed it would make sense when it came time.

Straightening up I found I had been sleeping against Annabeth and she had been doing the same. Looking around our campsite, I saw the fire was completely dead and I was the only one awake. That meant we had been sleeping without anyone on watch, a very dangerous thing. Annabeth had probably fallen asleep the same time as me, as well as by accident. Hunter was looking like he had passed out, due to his injury; which was covered by a blood soaked wrapping. And then there was Cora.

Cora looked like she had been the only one to move. She had moved over a couple feet, and I knew she wasn't an active sleeper. Then there was the strangest thing of all. Her army green jacket with multiple pockets was off. That was a shock, she _never _took it off, even to sleep (she, ah, refused to take someone else's clothes . . .). She was holding it in her arms, as it to keep it close for comfort. I wondered how she took it off, being asleep and all. Unless she was a sleepwalker, which I knew from experience she wasn't.

Still perplexed by my sister's weird night time antics, I finished looking around the site. There was a small sack near the campfire pit. I wondered what was in it, but didn't look – at that moment. The ground was damp – as was I – from the early morning dew and I saw what looked like footprints and paw prints. What were foot and paw prints doing here?

As I was struggling to get into a comfortable position, without waking Annabeth up, she did. She looked at me confused and I motioned for her to be quiet, gesturing to Cora and Hunter. When she saw them still fast asleep we both moved away from them so we could talk quietly without waking up the others.

Well, it's more accurate to say I moved away and Annabeth silently inspected the prints and everything else that had changed during the night. When she was done she came over and sat next to me. I wrapped my arm around her waist; she was shivering slightly in the cool damp air.

We sat in silence for a minute before I told her about my dream from Artemis. She was about as confused as me, and I didn't blame her. I was the one who got the dream and it made no sense at the moment.

Sometime later Hunter woke up. In his sleep he had looked calm, and now I saw he was still in some pain. He had done a pretty good job of masking it the night before, probably to not worry my sister any more. Hunter looked tired, and his bandage was bleached scarlet red. Unfortunally, I knew we'd have to wait until Cora woke up to change it.

Cora woke up much later, which I found odd since she was normally an early riser. When she did finally wake, it seemed to take her a minute to get her bearings. She yawned widely, as if she hadn't slept at all. Then looked at us confused.

"How come you guys aren't eating?" She asked us. I stared at her like she was a nut case.

"Eating? Did you forget? We have no food," I pointed out. Cora tilted her head and looked at me strange.

"What are you talking about? It's –" she stopped short as realization of something hit her. "Oh, right, only I was awake then. Well, there's food in the sack; enough for a day." That was all I needed to hear. I was starving!

I dived at the sack and ripped it open. Inside was a bunch a different thing; a loaf of bread, some apples and other fruits, juice boxes, water bottles, granola bars. The basic food needed for quests. I let a cheer and was about to stuff a granola bar in my mouth when Annabeth decided to go all cautious. Come on, it's food!

"Wait a minute," Annabeth said. "Cora, where did you get the food from?"

"I got it from . . ." Cora's face clouded over. "Well I don't really know her name. But I know the girl, she's from my past!" I froze and stared at her.

"Hang on, _what?_" I choked out. Did I just hear her say a girl from her _past? _Was she serious? She met someone from her past? Why wasn't I awake for that, I would have liked to pry some answers out of whoever it was!

"I'll start this from the beginning," she said. For the next half an hour we all sat there eating why Cora told what happened in both French and English.

When she finished, I had nothing to say to her. I couldn't think of what to say to her.

I knew from the description exactly who her visitor had been. I knew Annabeth knew her too. She was a close friend of ours. Though how she and my sister knew each other I couldn't fathom. It did explain a few things, but unfortunally Annabeth and I couldn't discuss them. We both knew that this turn of events was what Artemis had been warning me about.

With Cora little revelation, we also figured out where to go next. We had originally been planning on going to Phoenix, but had had no clue what direction to go in. Now we knew we had to go northwest; which according to Annabeth, made the most sense seeing as we had just come from the Superstition Mountains.

Now that we had our plans in order, there was only one more thing needed to be done before we headed out. Rewrapping Hunter's wound.

It wasn't an easy task. He was still a bit panicky about people touching it. Well, not too much Cora. But they could actually talk to each other and their friends so I guess that would make sense. So Cora and Annabeth took I don't know how long to unwrap and rewrap his wound.

Okay, they didn't unwrap the bandage exactly. Turned out the wound was still bleeding and if they took off the bandage it would destroy the blood clot. So they had to use Cora's dagger to cut off as much as they could _then _bandage it again.

For some reason during this whole time Cora still hadn't put her jacket back on. I think she was just too busy and distracted to remember. She was constantly doing something.

When we were finally almost ready to leave, Cora suddenly jumped to her feet and looked around alarmed. I opened my mouth to ask her what was wrong when I heard it. A long, lone wolf howl. I immediately tensed and looked around warily. I gritted my teeth and tried not to freak out to much.

See, the thing is, I _really _don't like wolves. Not just because we had to fight mutant wolves and werewolf king Lycaon in the previous war; but because of what happened when I first woke up after Hera took my memory. I woke up in the Wolf House surrounded by prowling wolves – they may have been gentle but it was still a shock. Ever since then, I haven't been the fondest of them.

A minute later, there were multiple more wolf howls. They came from all directions. Then I heard the light trampling of many feet. They grew closer and closer. The trees rustled noisily as the wolves raced closer. Suddenly they stopped. I knew they were close, but for some reason they didn't attack. I knew they were waiting for us to come out.

Quick as a flash Cora pulled out her sword and it grew to life in her hand. She looked over at us and blinked in confusion when she saw our unequipped hands.

"Aren't you guys going to draw your weapons?" She asked us. I coughed nervously.

"Um, Cora," I said. "Werewolves can only be harmed by silver. And you're the only one with silver weapons so . . . we can't help you." Cora put one hand on her hip and looked at us.

"Seriously?" She asked. I shrugged and nodded. "But, Percy, you're invincible, couldn't you just bash them or throttle them or something?"

I frowned. "And what? Leave Annabeth and Hunter undefended? I'm not going to do that. You'll just have to fave them alone," I said. Cora glanced at us worried before her eyes drifted to her belt. She switched her sword to her left hand, pulled out her dagger and looked at it for a while. I watched her curiously. You know, I never noticed before but my sister was really muscular for someone so thin; never saw the muscle before when her jacket was on.

Cora closed her eyes and suddenly tossed me her dagger hilt first. I caught it with surprise and looked at her confused. She opened her eyes and looked at me sidelong.

"Just in case," she reassured me. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Why don't you let someone help you then?" I asked, because she didn't normally seem okay with someone using her weapons. Cora shrugged.

"I just don't want to leave you guys unarmed . . ." From her expression she was worried and I knew she was also suspecting I didn't like wolves. Guess I'm not a master at masking my face either. Since I didn't have a reply, Cora raced off into the trees.

I really did not like waiting. It's _horrible _to not be able to join in a fight. Most people would be glad, but I've just grown so accustomed to fighting it feels odd to not be. It was even worse because everything had happened so quickly that Cora never explained everything to Hunter so he was just sitting there looking lost and woozy. At least the kid knew about killing werewolves.

It was painful just sitting there, listening to the fight happening all around us. I could hear trees breaking, wolves howling and snarling, things crashing into each other with dynamic force. Every once in a while there was the growling voice of a transformed wolf. Sometimes that happens, for whatever reason.

I hated just waiting as Cora fought the beasts. I had no idea of how the fight was going, and I had no real way to know either. Unless I was willing to enter the fight.

Time passed and eventually the forest grew quiet. It was a relief to know that the wolves were beaten back. There was a snapping whine and a final, unhappy growled threat. Then it was silent. All three of us looked at each other, the same thought passing through our minds; where was Cora? A moment later we heard plants rustle and footsteps. A tree shook and Cora stumbled into view breathing heavily.

She stopped at the edge of the trees and forced herself to stand up straight. She held it for a couple seconds before wincing and bending over. Her sword was gone and she was clutching her upper left arm tightly. I could just see red blood through the cracks in her fingers. She walked over to us swaying and collapsed on the ground. A moment later she was on her back trying not to let on she was in pain. She didn't do a very good job.

"What happened?" I breathed in shock. This was another reason to dislike werewolves. They not only did this to friends before, but now they did it to my sister.

"Lycaon scratched me when he retreated," Cora mumbled. "I just got unlucky." Well that was typical Lycaon; he always liked to do something before retreating. Unfortunally whatever he does that causes pain, it causes a _lot _of pain.

Annabeth cast a worried look at me. "That's not good," she said. "Lycaon sometimes imbues his claws with some type of poison that's deadly to mortals. We need to clean that out right away." _That _definitely got my attention. Since when does Lycaon have some type of poison? Nobody ever tell the sometimes-invincible-sometime-not guy things.

Cora managed to cast a mildly annoyed glare at Annabeth – probably wishing she had mentioned that before – then bit back a quiet moan. Annabeth cast a glance at me before kneeling down next to Cora. She murmured something to her and I saw Cora weakly nod.

Cora shakily pulled her hand away from where it had been placed, revealing what her wound actually looked like.

There were three short but deep slashes a couple of inches apart on her upper arm. They weren't bleeding too badly but – but something wasn't right. The top slash was bleeding scarlet blood. In the middle slash, the colouring was off; it wasn't as rich a red, more of an orange colour. And the last slash was bleeding . . . was bleeding . . .

"Golden Ichor," I breathed. "You're bleeding golden Ichor." All of us were frozen; we were too shocked to move. It – it was impossible. She was bleeding the blood of gods and the blood of humans. All I could do was stare; all any of us could do was stare. It was – it was just impossible, this wasn't natural.

Cora looked at us bewildered through half closed eyes. "What?" she choked out, looking down at her arm in amazement. "Oh dear gods. How – how is this even possible? It's – it's –" She couldn't even find a word to describe it, none of us could. We were in silent shock for a minute.

"I don't understand," Annabeth whispered eventually. "This isn't possible; a person can't have two types of blood in them, not even a demigod. It doesn't make any sense . . . how could . . ." Annabeth was off in strategic-daughter-of-Athena mode.

"Hello? In pain here, care to fix me up before you answer the impossible question?" Cora muttered. I was too shocked to even move or help and Annabeth was already lost in her own world so she got no response.

Sighing, Cora said, "Hunter, pourriez-vous me donner l'aide? S'il vous plaît?" Hunter, being pulled out of his staring stupor, saw that no one else was doing anything and since he was asked to quickly helped Cora pour some Nectar on her wounds and tie it up; miraculously doing this with minimal usage of his left arm. Cora remained quiet after that.

When we were about as ready as we could possibly be with the shocking revelation of Cora's blood, we quickly headed off in the direction we were told to go in. We were silent the whole time, thinking through the possibilities, trying to make sense of everything. It was hard to believe, but this whole time, Golden Ichor, the blood of the gods, had been flowing through my very own sister's veins.

**A/N: *taps chin* I hope this wasn't over doing things, because I did question it briefly. I do have a reason for the Ichor though, it just relates to Cora's past so you can't find out for now . . . it doesn't affect her mortality though. She's still the same as any other demigod, just with a different blood type. Just clearing that up for now. *smiles* It'll make more sense later on. Now, let me know what you thought through either a review or fav or alert! I don't care which, I just want to know! I'll see you all next for the final completed chapter.**


	38. Hotel Room Talks Part One

**A/N: Last completed chapter, but this is by no means done. I read the Mark of Athena ... I am now, like, dead. You know how earlier I mentioned Cora was the most powerful demigod? Yeah, that idea, down the drain. Scratch it out. *sighs* Well, this is like, version 1.75 so I'm allowed mistakes. But it killed me . . . if you have not read it . . . WAIT UNTIL THE FOURTH BOOK IS ALMOST OUT. I am telling you, it will make your life easier . . . unlike for me . . . anyways . . . go ahead. Read on. This may be your last chapter for a while.**

Cora: Hotel Room Talks Part One

To be honest, I wasn't too surprised about my blood. Yes it was shocking, but I sort of felt like I already knew. I guessed I knew it before I got amnesia; I knew I had known I had Ichor. But it was still shocking. My mind was reeling. I didn't even know how it was possible, or how it made any sense, but I knew that it meant something. Part of my blood was Golden Ichor.

Our little trek back to civilization went on in silence. There wasn't much to say, aside from when we were trying to figure out directions. Which really didn't happen often, since we had Annabeth the map master. I wondered where she learnt all this.

After a couple hours of going through the woods, we came out on a tall deserted hill overlooking a city. We took a few steps away from the woods and it shimmered and disappeared behind us; Mist enchanted I guess. It wasn't too hard to figure out what city it was. Phoenix. We were back in Phoenix.

As we headed into the city on foot we quickly agreed that we were not staying out in the open again. We needed to find hotel. And then, coincidentally, Percy remembered he started a bank account just in case of time like these. Well, his mom and stepdad made it, being concerned for his constantly in danger butt. And the international travel.

So after a quick stop at the bank we found the cheapest-yet-not-a-motel-or-that-a-bad place to stay at. As it turned out, no place in Phoenix was actually lower than a two star hotel. Who knew?

We picked the best place to stay using a visitor's guide and quickly booked rooms. More like room. There was some convention in town and they only had one room left. We had no choice but to take it.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door we filed into room 223 and stopped dead. We had been expecting some cheap little one bed room with barely any space. Instead there were four single beds with dark red covers lined up against the right hand wall. On the left side in the back corner was a large desk with a keyboard and a screen that probably doubled as a computer and TV. The bathroom was spacious with a duel bathtub and shower. The far wall was three-quarters windows draped in matching red shades. They over looked a busy street.

Percy and Annabeth dropped their bags on the two beds next to each other closest to the windows. I claimed the one nestled in the corner against the wall separating the bathroom. Sighing I lay down on my back and closed my eyes. The bed was surprisingly soft.

"I don't see how this is a two star hotel. But this is pretty nice," I muttered. I heard Percy chuckle.

"This is one of the nicest places I've ever stayed while on a quest," he said. "I call the shower first!"

"Thanks," Annabeth said sarcastically.

"Um, Perce?" I said opening one eye and looking at him halfway to the bathroom. "Showering's not gonna do much good since we don't have any clean clothes. We'll still smell." Percy gave me a goofy, brotherly smile.

"We're children of Poseidon, Coral," he said. I don't know why he called me Coral, but I scowled and glared a little at him. It hit a nerve, one that made me more conscious of the empty space in my head. "We can wash them in the tub and dry 'em in a second."

"What about those _without _powers, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked him. I smirked at him as he scratched his head and thought for a minute.

"Um . . . oh, I know!" Percy said snapping his fingers. "You guys just yell at one of us to dry them! That would work." Me and Annabeth looked at each other and wrinkled our noses.

"I think I'll put them on wet then get one of you to dry them," Annabeth grumbled. Percy looked slightly confused at changing his idea, but mumbled "okay" and went in to take his shower.

"I sometimes wonder how you've put up with him for years," I said smiling.

"Oh, you learn to look past his flaws," Annabeth laughed. "Anyways, I'm going to go find a place to connect to the Wi-Fi; since I can't use the computer here." As she said this she pulled her laptop out of her bag. "I shouldn't be gone to long, I just want to do some research on those Darkest Dawn people. 'K? Don't blow something up."

"I'll try to refrain," I promised. Annabeth nodded once, grabbed a room key and hurried out. The door clicked shut behind her.

I sighed and settled myself against the bed. Hunter, who had been standing quietly, sat down on the last free bed with a plop. He asked me what was going on and I quickly told him the plans. The plans were pretty much shower, eat, sleep, and then bother figuring out what to do.

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax. For the first time since stepping off that boat in the Arctic I felt almost relaxed. My mind was still wired and I was still struggling to keep the terror down, but I could physically relax.

It was silent for a minute except for the hiss of the shower in the bathroom. I was exhausted and would have gone to sleep, but I was constantly fighting the terrifying images that crowded my mind.

"What's going to happen, when the quest is over?" Hunter asked suddenly. I opened my eyes and looked at him. "Where will you go?" Hunter was looking down at his hands in his lap. I shrugged the best I could lying down.

"I dunno," I replied. "I guess I'll go back home, wherever that is. What about you? There aren't more wars. Will you go home and live with your father?" Hunter was silent for a moment. I knew I had asked a bad question.

"No," Hunter whispered, his voice cold and quiet. "I won't ever go back." That got my full attention. I sat up slowly, unsure whether to go over to him or not.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean –" I stopped short as Hunter stood up and walked over to the window and looked out. He was tense and I knew he didn't want to talk. But I didn't care. I stood. "I'm sorry," I repeated walking over to him. "I didn't realize – I had no idea –" I didn't know what to say. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Hunter I'm sorry if I – I'm sorry, please don't be mad."

Hunter sighed and stared outside. He wore a wounded expression. "It's not your fault," he said. "You don't know what it's – what it's –" his voice broke. I stepped closer, my hand still on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, if I've done anything," I repeated. "But . . ." I thought back to when I had met Hunter's dad; his reaction, the way he had been . . . "Hunter, what happened? What's going on?" I got no reply. "Hunter, please," I said quietly, "tell me. I want to know. Maybe – maybe I can help. What's going on?" His eyes flickered to me. "You're scared, aren't you? I saw you, I'm not blind."

Hunter sighed. "I didn't want to worry you," he whispered. "But – but –" his shoulders sagged and he leaned against me. "You don't know what it was like. You don't know what happened." His expression broke my heart.

"Then tell me," I said fiercely. "Tell me what happened. You haven't been able to tell because no one knows what you say – well here I am. I'm your friend and I want to know. I – I don't like seeing you like this."

Hunter looked down. "It – it started when I was young. My mother left me with my father, and it crushed him. He thought she loved him, he didn't think she'd leave. He loved her and she let him with me.

"At first it wasn't so bad. Sometimes he'd get moody, missing her. But as I got older . . . I look like her. That's what he said. That I look just like her. He saw her in me, and he hated me for it. I was so young . . ." he glanced at me, his eyes full of pain. "He'd beat me. He'd grab me and hit me and beat me so hard I couldn't even think."

I gasped in horror, pain and sorrow filling me up. I couldn't believe it.

"I barely lasted with it," Hunter continued. "Only a couple beatings, and I ran away. I ran away and lived in the streets. I was hardly even a toddler. The police found me and returned me home. I got more beatings in response. Eventually I ran away again. And again. And again. The police always found me and returned me home. I couldn't escape the beatings."

He looked at me mournfully. "That's why I don't know English. I never went to school because either I was to beat up to attend or I was in the streets. But I didn't know how to survive there and got returned to my father. Eventually camp found me . . . you have no idea how happy I was three years ago, to be taken away from him. I thought I would have a new life. But I didn't. I walked in a confused fog."

He fell silent and mentally I added in _until me. _I was the first to care about him, in his whole life. Hunter pushed away from me, and glared out the window.

"My father hated me. He thought I was like mother and he punished me for it. One minute he'll love me, the next he wants me dead. As long as I'll live, I'll never go back to him." Hunter was shaking with anger. I didn't know what to do.

"Oh gods, Hunter, I had no idea. If I did I wouldn't have given you no choice but to take us to him – honestly!" I said, my voice cracking. "Hunter I am so sorry you had that. I really am sorry and -"

"No!" Hunter snarled. "You can't be sorry because you don't know! You never felt it! You don't even have a PAST! You don't know how it feels!" I stepped away, my heart stinging from his words.

"H - Hunter I –"

"Don't! You don't know what I've gone through and you never will! You don't know anything; how can you be sorry?" Tears pricked my eyes and he suddenly seemed to realize what he had done. "I need some air," he mumbled.

Then he hurried past me, grabbed a key, and headed to the door. I tried following him, I reached to pull him back but couldn't. I opened my mouth but no words came out. He walked out the room, looking so angry and confused and pained I felt like it was my own. The door closed behind him and I flinched.

The tears in my eyes rolled down my cheeks. I sniffled and wiped my nose; I felt like I had just gotten to really know and lost my best friend all at once. For a second I stood there, hollow and hurt. Then I remembered I wasn't alone.

I grabbed the remote, fiddled with the confusing TV, and left it quietly on the History channel. I didn't want Percy to worry. This was my fault and my fault alone.

I sat down on the edge of the bed in front of the TV and pulled my knees up to my chest. I felt sorrow and guilt and so many other emotions I could barely breathe. I stared uncomprehendingly ahead and tried to sift through everything.

I went over the facts about Hunter I had gained. I went over everything that had happened. I worked hard to figure out my feelings. I just sat there, thinking. I hurt so much, and I knew Hunter was hurting. I wanted to fix things. I felt it was all my fault.

Time passed. My thoughts were accompanied by the droning of the TV and the hiss of the shower. I don't know how long I sat there for, just curled up and thinking. Several times I would nearly cry while I thought. But I didn't want to cry.

Eventually, when I had finally figured out what I was feeling, I heard the door click. The room door opened and in slipped Hunter. I glanced at him; his green with brown flecked eyes looked almost red. As if he had been crying.

"I'm a horrible friend," I blurted out. I still stared blankly ahead of me.

Hunter looked at me surprised. "Don't say that."

"It's true," I said. "I am a horrible friend. All I've done is hurt people and drag them into danger through my own stupidity. _I_ was the one who endangered you all, because _I_ got captured. And I can't even hold a conversation with you without hurting you and causing you to leave!" I paused. "You probably hate me."

"No, Cora don't say that," Hunter argued, walking over to me. He sat down in front of me and I moved my legs to the side. "You're not a horrible friend. You're a wonderful friend. You care about people, you asked me about – about what happened because you cared. That's not a horrible friend."

"I made you upset, from my own curiosity."

"You made me tell a pain that I've held my whole life. You help me get it off my chest. I was just confused, about how I felt when I told you. I need to be alone to think. I no longer have to carry it alone. You made me face a memory that hurt me; I should be thanking you, really. You're the greatest friend."

The tears returned. "But I still hurt you," I replied. "I still hurt you. I made you reveal something you wanted secret." I looked down ashamed. "You probably can't even look at me now. The sight of me ought to disgust you."

I felt Hunter place his hand under my chin and he gently raised my head. I tried to look away, but he held my eyes. He gave me a sad, sweet smile and moved a little closer.

"You know what I think when I look at you?" he asked me quietly. I shook my head. "When I look at you, I see a strong, courageous, and dangerous girl who's fighting to find who she is. I see the toughest person in the world, because she keeps all her pains and fears inside to stop her friends from worrying. I see the most loyal and brave friend, because she always worries about how it will affect them. When I look at you, I see the most incredible girl in the world, who's able to deal with all the Fates throw at her."

I stared at him, a smile forming on my face, filling in what words wouldn't. I felt so relieved it was impossible to describe. He lowered his hand. I couldn't believe he forgave me so easily. I found myself leaning forward.

"I wonder what I did, to end up getting a friend like you," I whispered. My heart was beating weird; it didn't make a regular pattern and seemed too loud. I didn't know what it meant. Something inside me fluttered nervously. Part of me noticed the burning ring on my forehead, but my confusing emotions and happiness at being forgiven drowned it out.

Hunter smiled. "You were just being you, and there is nothing better than that. You're a great friend, don't doubt that."

I found him moving closer, or maybe it was me. I couldn't be sure. We were so close, though I didn't know what was happening. Why were we so close? I didn't know but I found us getting closer all the same; we were centimeters apart . . . .

"What are you doing?" I jerked back, shock filling my body as I came to my senses. I looked around wild-eyed. Percy was standing near us, looking at us quizzically.

"Nothing!" I said to loudly and too quickly. My face was hot. "Nothing!" Hunter was moving away, looking downwards. I flew to my feet, confused. "I – I'm going to take the shower now!" Anything to get out of there.

I scurried past Percy and Hunter and into the bathroom. I closed the door and locked it.

Confused, elated, and disappointed all at once, I quickly turned on the shower and cranked up the heat. The moment steam was filling the air I jumped in, clothes and all. I stood there, gasping as the heat hit me. My mind was reeling; what had just happened? Or almost happened? I didn't know what to think anymore.

I sank to the ground, my mind spinning. I felt ashamed, and also happy. But mostly shame and confusion engulfed me. _Something lost and something gained; _these words filled my mind. The hot water pelted on my head and shoulder. Gasping for air I lowered my head, and wept.

**A/N: *shifts* So, um, uh, I think I'm going to, uh, hide? *Pulls out shield* *backs into corner* I know y'all we're hoping for something really badly there, and I kinda stole it from you . . . SORRY IT'S A PART OF THE PLOTLINE! *cowers* I am scared of angry fans. And I don't know how this worked out, but Hunter turned into my bad luck character; which is weird since I like the guy ... anyways. Please don't kill me but do let me know you're thoughts. See you – see you – see you sometime . . . if I can ever finish the next chapter.**


	39. Hotel Room Talks Part Two

**A/N: I'm actually surprised this reached my minimum page number! I thought I'd have to cut it off at two pages, just 'cause it'd FINALLY be done, but . . . no. It hit the length! Yay! And this is the first chapter of my mass update! Y'all should be happy about that! I'm still going crazy over my new longbow . . . *smiles* It's so beautiful. Anyways, here's that chapter! Enjoy!**

Percy: Hotel Room Talks Part Two

I wasn't sure what I had just walked in on, but if I didn't know any better, I could have sworn Cora and Hunter were about to kiss. That thought made me uncomfortable. Yes, it would have been awkward enough to come in to that, but it was more than that. I felt a part of me I hadn't know existed – over protective brother – come out.

I folded my arms and looked at Hunter, trying to figure out exactly what I saw and what to say. I noticed Hunter was staring at the ground as if it was suddenly interesting. He made a point of not looking at me.

I watched him for a moment longer, piecing everything together, before saying, "You like Cora, don't you?"

Hunter's head snapped up to me and he stared, uncomprehending and nervous. I had just blurted it out, forgetting about the language issue. I noticed his face was scarlet. I repeated myself, more slowly, trying to gesture the best I could. The gestures didn't really work out.

When I finally got my message across, Hunter just looked at me for a moment. Then he looked down at the ground again, as his face turned a bright shade of red, and gave the slightest nod.

I wasn't sure what I should have been feeling then, but what I did feel was _relief. _I didn't know why, but I just did. I felt like I had just been waiting for this to be admitted.

For a moment I stood there, watching Hunter as he avoided looking at me with a scarlet face. I found myself grinning as I sat down on one of the beds.

"You know," I said, keeping my voice low as he looked up worriedly, "I think secretly she likes you to." He stared at me and I took a moment to repeat and elaborate. His eyes widened and I noticed he was trying not to look too pleased. Hunter held it for a moment before looking at me warily.

"Tu – tu cela ne dérange pas?" He asked, gesturing hesitantly.

I shook my head once I understood. "No, I don't mind." I gave lopsided smile, half to myself. "I've no reason not to, and I trust my sister." It felt odd to say this to a kid who couldn't even understand me.

There must have been something in my tone, because he visibly relaxed without further explanation. He didn't say anything, and I had no what I ought to say. We fell into silence. I started focusing on random little things, like the movement outside on the street, the TV droning on and on.

It sounds cliché, but the TV took my attention. It was on the history channel, and showing some show that was investigating Greek artifacts or whatever. It was kind of funny to see all the misinterpretations of gods and all the facts they got wrong.

I pointed to the TV. "Did Cora turn that on?" I asked. Hunter glanced over and gave a half shrug half nod. I took that to be a 'probably'. I just nodded. That made sense. A bunch of wrong facts would be the sort of thing to make Cora laugh – why I still wasn't really sure, she just found them funny.

There was more awkward silence and I looked around for something to do. My eyes landed on the computer keyboard. Hey, we can't be traced through a public hotel connection very well.

I got up and checked out the little info-thingy-ma-bobber. _What the heck, _I thought, noticing a couple things listed as 'free'. I grabbed the wireless keyboard and plopped down on the bed in front of the screen.

"Good-bye boring show," I muttered, clicking a few keys and watching the screen shift from TV mode to computer mode. "Hello video game."

I don't really know what video game it was, but I didn't have to pay anything for it, and I got to blow stuff up. I wasn't complaining.

It was a little sad though when I kept dying. I just couldn't seem to get it quite right and I started getting pretty frustrated. Hunter, who had been watching me because he didn't have anything else to do, sat down next to me and gave a few commands. This time little player didn't die.

I looked at him in surprise. "Nice," I said. I held my hand up. "High five." He seemed a little hesitant but gave me one.

We kind of ended up tag teaming the game. It actually wasn't too bad, since video game controls tend to be a universal language so we didn't have to speak. It certainly made passing the time a lot less awkward.

I'm not sure how long we were playing the game for, and we only stopped when the room door opened and Annabeth made a confused sound.

I hit the pause button and looked over. "Hey," I said. "Where were you?"

She frowned. "Didn't Cora tell you?"

"Um . . ." I tried to figure out how to phrase it right.

"Whatever," she said. "What are you two doing?"

I held up the keyboard. "Playing a game."

Annabeth gave us an odd look as the door to the bathroom opened.

"Annabeth! You're – uh . . ." Cora looked over at us, very confused. Hunter said something in rapid-fire French to Cora. She blinked. "Oh." She moved into the room.

Annabeth was still looking at us. "Well?" She asked me.

I shrugged. "Video games don't require speaking."

**A/N: "It felt odd to say this to a kid who couldn't even understand me." THAT LINE WAS MY BANE FOR A YEAR! *growls***

**Some male bonding there. Yeah. This chapter, the next, and the previous are supposed to be, like, my bonding chapters. I dunno why . . . that's just what I felt like doing. Only three chapters of bonding though, I don't need to have Percy and Annabeth bond. They've done enough of that. Anywho. What did you guys think? Let me know via reviews, favs, and alerts! **


	40. Hotel Room Talks Part Three

**A/N: You're not all mad at me for baling on the mass update, right? Some I just had no idea what to do next, some I didn't know how to end . . . it just all fell to pieces. Sorry about that. I wrote this here chapter in one day. If only every day was like those couple hours . . . I'd been done so many books by now! Speaking of which . . . yell at me to work on my novel, Charnwood! Now enjoy!**

Cora: Hotel Room Talks Part Three

I wasn't quite sure what to make of Percy and Hunter playing a video game. Mostly because it wasn't something I thought would happen, seeing as they can't speak. Annabeth and I glanced at each other, me shrugging. Hunter had told me there wasn't much else to do. I sat down on the bed beside my brother and looked at the screen.

"That looks really confusing," I said.

Percy looked at me. "It's a random game; didn't they have video games wherever you came from?" I scowled and my jaw tightened. "Sorry, that was a stupid thing to say."

In response I punched Percy in the arm. Switching to French I turned to Hunter. "Don't suppose you can elaborate on this?" I asked him, jerking a thumb towards the screen.

"Nope," Hunter said, shaking his head. "It's all English, I've no idea." I gave a nod and for a heartbeat we looked at each other. I remembered how close together we'd been . . . I felt my face heating up and quickly turned away.

Annabeth muttered something to herself and sat down across from me. "Cora, I was hoping I could talk to you."

I knew what she wanted to talk to me about, and something must've shown on my face, because at that moment both boys found reasons to leave.

Hunter got up and said, "I think I'll go take my turn in the shower." I just stared at him as he vanished into the bathroom. Hardly a moment later Percy was one his feet.

"I feel like taking a swim," he said, grabbing a card and leaving the room. I opened my mouth to protest and shut it angrily.

I turned to Annabeth. "Is it just me, or are boys cowards?"

Annabeth stifled a laugh. "Only some of the time. Plus, I think your expression might have been a part of it. It's pretty obvious what you don't want to talk about."

"Then how 'bout we don't talk about it?" I muttered.

"Cora." I looked up at Annabeth, some sort of pouting-scowling look on my face. "I get that you don't want to even think about it, I really do. It was . . . traumatizing."

"It was not!" I snapped.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You looked pretty scared."

"I'm not scared!" I glared at her. "I'm not scared of – of anything, okay?"

She gave a half shrug and raised her hands peaceably. "Okay. Just listen to the advice of someone who's been through a lot. It does no good to keep things locked up. I learnt the hard way what keeping your feelings hidden can do. Especially when what you know or feel can help."

I swallowed. "But – there's no reason to worry about them. I mean . . . I got away. As long as we keep cautious here in Phoenix and move on quickly, they won't be a problem." I could hardly hide the shake in my voice. I was sure Annabeth could hear it, even if she didn't point it out.

"Maybe," she said. Annabeth pulled out her computer and moved to sit beside me. She changed it into a tablet mode and tapped something on the screen. There was suddenly a holographic image in front of us. "Did you see anything like this? I kept coming across it in my research and –"

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and pushed away from her, my eyes locked on the holograph. There was a ringing in my ears. I felt the hole in my head where that image was suppose to go.

Annabeth was looking at me in concern. "Should I take this as a yes?"

I was shaking my head. "Not there," I breathed. "I didn't see it there – I –" My head was hurting fiercely. "It's – oh gods – Annabeth, please – put it away – I – I –"

She quickly whipped the image away and lowered the tablet. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't realize." She seemed to be oddly detached from this. "I won't show you that again."

It was too late though, the image was burned into my mind. A circular object, with a border of tiny six-pointed stars, and a crest in the middle. The crest had reminded me in some way of the silver image on my arm the girl from my past had shown me, only it was . . . different.

There had been a circle, with two crescent facing out on the left and right. Behind that had been a swirl, above and below it had been images that were faded or rubbed off or something. My mind filled in a lightning bolt above and some sort of bundle of plants below.

Thinking about it made me feel lightheaded and nauseous. I pushed the image out of my head.

I leaned back against the headboard, drawing my legs up. I focused on my breathing and keeping my mind blank. I wondered if I had been taught to do this, to keep calm. Annabeth was doing something on her device, angling the screen so I couldn't see. She kept glancing at me.

I felt a sudden stab of annoyance towards her. It wasn't that I _disliked _her – honestly, I did like Annabeth – but there were times when I felt she regarded me more as a puzzle or an experiment than as a person.

"You're glaring at me," she said after a few minutes.

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

I scowled at her.

"You know, you look a lot like Percy when you do that, more than one would think."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Nothing, really. You both just look so different – hair, skin tone, that sort of thing, when Percy looks so much like your guys' dad. Except your eyes. Aside from that, I wouldn't expect you to look so much like him."

"Good to know I'm a demigod anomaly," I mumbled.

She frowned at me. "Why are you being so touchy? Normally you're so much calmer."

"I don't know, maybe because I – nevermind."

She leaned forward. "What is it?"

"It's nothing." I swung myself over to sit on the other side.

"Oh no, it's something. You can't pull the wool over my eyes that easily. If something's wrong –"

"There's nothing wrong. Why do you always act like there's a problem?"

"What?"

"You always act like – like there's something wrong and you need to fix it. I feel like I'm nothing more than a challenge to you! And Percy makes me feel like I'm some little kid who can't take care of herself! And Hunter –" my voice died for a moment, as a warm nervous feeling took over my gut. "The point is all I feel like is one huge mess to be dealt with! It's – it's insulting! And it just makes me feel more confused and – and miserable and –"

I cut myself off, confused and angry. Why had I opened my mouth? Why had I lost such control of myself?

Annabeth blinked, fully caught off guard. "I – I'm sorry. I had no idea." She was blushing. "I guess you're right. Sometimes, I let my brain get in the way of things. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. And I know Percy is just worried for you. He's like that with everyone he cares about."

She hesitated. "Cora, you can talk to me. I know you're best friends with Hunter, but sometimes it helps to talk to another girl."

I looked at her sideways. "I don't think I've ever had that, even before."

Her mouth curved in a smile. "No time like the present to start."

"I – I don't know."

We looked at each other. Before I knew it, the two of us were talking. I tended to shy away from anything concerning me, so I started asking her about her quests and the Romans and some on her projects.

It turned out we had more in common than I thought. It was odd, but it felt good to just talk about nothing important. I hadn't really done that since the night shift before Alert, which felt like it was ages ago.

I relaxed, and so did Annabeth, and before I knew it Hunter was walking into the room. Soaking wet. I couldn't help myself. I laughed. He looked really flustered and embarrassed. Annabeth was trying not to laugh.

"Nice to know I look funny," he grumbled. "Can you dry me off, please?"

"Right, on it," I said. I narrowed my eyes and focused. Hunter's pink face was kind of distracting me. Gods, what was wrong with me all of a sudden? I exerted my will and tried to make the water evaporate. A second later there was a shriek as Annabeth was splattered with water.

My eyes widen. "Sorry!" I exclaimed, flushing. "I did not mean to do that!"

Annabeth just laughed. "It's fine. I guess now's as good a time as any to take my turn in the bathroom."

She got up and slipped into the bathroom, the door closing loudly. Hunter sat down across from me.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but getting clothes dried like that is creepy," he said.

"Oh," I said, wrinkling my nose. "Well at least you don't smell anymore."

"Hey!" He kicked my leg. I kicked him back, harder. "Ouch."

I grinned. "You should've known by now I hit back."

"You know, I really should've." He gave me a sort of funny look. "How come you suddenly seem less tense?"

I shrugged. "I feel calmer."

Hunter smiled. "That's good. You look happier."

I flushed. Thankfully I was saved from replying by the room door opening and Percy walking in, saying, "I really hope those weren't monsters in disguise I just ditched." He sat down in the desk chair, wheeling it around a little. He looked at me. "Hey, you no longer look upset! I was starting to get worried. Did you punch something?"

I gave him an insulted look. "No, I'm not _that _violent, you know! Annabeth and I were just talking."

He gave me a curious look. "Like, she was asking for info? Or explaining something?"

"No, it was just . . . random stuff."

Percy stared. "So my girlfriend and sister were having a girl talk. I did not see that coming."

I glared at him. "I think he just implied I can't be a normal sort of girl," I said to Hunter in French, feeling slighted.

"Well," Hunter said. "You're not _normal_, exactly, but you are definitely a girl."

"Thanks?"

"It was a compliment. Normal is boring. You're something much better than that."

It took me a minute to realize I was grinning.

**A/N: Oh my gosh, Cora nearly snapped! Last time she showed that much reaction was the day she woke up . . . and a couple events with Hunter, but I over look those. She and Annabeth had some bonding, and for a while in her month-and-a-half-long life Cora was happy! *Makes a face* wow, this has a long timeline.  
This may be a little off topic, but how do **_**The Mortal Instruments **_**continue after book three? Because that seemed like a pretty final ending, so I'm not sure if the next ones will be good. Advice?  
Now, please tell me what you thought of this chapter via reviews, favs, alerts, or anything else! Feedback gets you better stories!**


	41. Sickly Scents and Monster's Chow

**A/N: And . . . the bonding chapters are over. Hunter and Annabeth bonding just . . . didn't work in my mind. Think about it, doesn't it strike you as weird? Nothing worked in my mind. So it never happened. I dunno if I'll update next week. See, I don't want to reveal too much to you guys in the next chapter, so it's a challenge to make it work. I'm still unsure of what I want to tell you. Anyways. Read on!**

Percy: Sickly Scents and Monster's Chow

It had been a nice surprise to see Cora looking so relaxed. Ever since we had gotten her out of capture, she'd had this shadowed look like she was being ripped apart from the inside. It had been getting worse, but I'd been too worried to bring it up, scared it would only make her shy away more.

However, her light mood evaporated when Annabeth came out of the shower and we had to plan. It was late in the day. None of us were hungry, so we talked about where to go next and went to sleep. Cora wanted to get out of the city as soon as possible, except we didn't know where to go. We agreed to stay in the hotel for a few days until we found a new lead.

I noticed that by this point Cora had that look in her eyes again. That painful look that almost made me think she was still scared.

We drew the thick curtains across the windows and each climbed into our respective beds. My stomach was tight with worry. It was a very long time before I fell asleep.

* * *

I stood in darkness, with the heavy feeling of presences weighing down on me. I looked around, unable to see anything. I couldn't shake the feeling I wasn't alone.

Looking up I saw bright pin-pricks above me, growing slowly stronger. _Stars, _I realized, after a minute. They were stars, constellations, gleaming brightly. The feeling of others around me grew stronger and suddenly everything burst into light.

My jaw dropped and I felt a twinge of nerves. I was standing behind a pillar on the outside of the throne room of the gods. Every seat was filled; twelve foot tall beings radiating power, their faces hard and tired. They looked like they'd just been through a battle and were dealing with the casualties.

That made me even more nervous.

They started talking, but I couldn't hear anything. It was like somebody had clicked the mute button in my dreams. I squinted from where I stood, trying to read their lips. They were speaking to quickly – and in Greek – for me to follow. I didn't like the tension in the hall, though.

I caught something out of the corner of my eye and looked over. There was nothing; yet I could have sworn I'd seen someone shadow-travel away.

_Nico, _I thought bitterly, _the little spy. _The bigger question was, what had he been doing here? I focused back on the gods and noticed something odd. Sitting in the middle of the hearth – literally sitting in it – was Hestia.

Her features were pale and grave, her face deadly serious as she said something. She gestured downwards and I noticed something in the marble floor. A tiny little blemish in the perfect surface. I leaned forward a bit and stared at it. It was directly below the brazier holding the fire.

I frowned. What was it; a missing piece? A decoration? Something else? I wasn't sure.

Athena leant forward and said something. A moment later everything swirled around me and I woke in my bed with a start.

It was pitch-black in the room, and my eyes took a moment to adjust. For a moment I thought everyone was still asleep; then I noticed the figure at Cora's bed.

It was Hunter. He was sitting next to Cora, who leaned against him, clutching his shirt, mumbling something to him in French, her face looking like she'd had a nightmare.

I didn't move. Somehow it seemed wrong to let them know I was awake. I closed my eyes again. For a moment I felt upset. _I _was Cora's brother. _I _was the one who should be there for her. Briefly I considered getting up.

_Stop it, _I told myself. _You're just upset that your rather recent little sister doesn't need you sooner than you would've liked. _I knew I was being stupid and jealous. Still, I couldn't help it and I had to force myself to fall back asleep.

* * *

The next day I woke up sometime around noon, and that was only because everyone else prodded me awake. The only consoling part about that, was that everyone else had only just gotten up. After all, it was the first night in a bed for nearly a week.

Still half asleep, all of our stomachs rumbling, I grabbed the room phone and called up room service. I ordered for us a full meal, probably cleaning out half the kitchen in the process.

It arrived half an hour later – which meant we were all starving – and we quickly set up a makeshift table for us to eat at. There was a bit of fighting when dishing out the food, which meant a couple insults were tossed about. Hey, we were hungry!

"Do you think we should burn some for the gods?" Annabeth asked. "We'll have leftovers, and, well . . ."

"_Well, _I'm eating," Cora said, her stomach rumbling loudly. She quickly sawed off a piece of meat and stuffed it in her mouth.

Immediately her face froze over and she chewed a couple times, swallowing slowly and setting the fork down with a chink. She suddenly looked green.

"That tasted like hellhound poop," she said, her voice thin.

"How do you know that?" I demanded.

"I don't want to know." She made a retching sound, looking horrible. "I'm going to be sick." She flew to her feet and raced into the bathroom, hand over her mouth. A second later I heard the sounds of her throwing up.

I took down at the plate and pushed it away. "I think I know why this place has such a low rating."

There were more sounds from the bathroom. The three of us looked at each other, wide eyed, and Hunter was quickly on his feet and hurrying to Cora.

"Okay, we are so not eating this," Annabeth said, standing up. "Come on Seaweed Brain, let's go and find something edible." I nodded and we headed to the door.

"Maybe we can use it as monster poison," I suggested. "Get _some _value out of it."

"Maybe."

We paused by the door and glanced in on the bathroom. Cora was hunched over the toilet, looking awful. Hunter was kneeling next to her, holding her hair back and saying something in a soothing tone. I had a feeling she'd be in safe hands.

"And maybe something to help Cora," I suggested.

"Good idea."

* * *

We strolled down a street in Phoenix in the bright afternoon sunlight. Our hands were intertwined, and I found myself wishing this was a date. It'd be nice, after, like, a month on a wild-goose-quest.

I'm not going to lie, we did waste about ten minutes simply talking. Then we figured we'd better actually get food before we fainted from hunger. We found this little take-out place that served Greek food.

We waited behind some guy who would have looked like a sumo wrestler if his muscle was transferred into roles of fat. He was near seven feet tall and ripped like a giant. I had a bad feeling as he ordered something in a voice that sounded a lot like Tyson's.

When the man got his order and brushed past us, I happened to look up at his face. I went tense as I stared up at where his eyes should be. He had only one eye.

Cyclops.

He didn't seem to notice me, which was odd. I nudged Annabeth, who was stepping up to order. "That man's a Cyclops," I whispered.

Her eyes widened. She gave me a little nod. "Excuse me, sir," she said to the man behind the counter. "But who was that man, the previous customer?"

She got a blank look. "Sorry? There hasn't been another customer for quite a few minutes, and they weren't a man."

Annabeth and I looked at each other, instinctively coming to a plan. I darted out of the shop, looking around and quickly spotting the hulking figure of the Cyclops. I moved a little ways down the street, so I wouldn't lose him.

There were still a bunch of rogue Cyclops around, and usually when they lived in a city it was to eat people. Although . . . what would a monster want with takeout? That didn't make sense. It was still our job to get rid of the evil ones, though. Plus, monsters sometimes have good information, if you're lucky.

Hardly a minute later Annabeth burst out of the shop, breathing something about coming back later as she ran up to me.

I pointed to the monster and we hurried through the crowded street, not too worried about losing it but not wanting it to simply vanish at the same time.

We followed the Cyclops for a few blocks until he ducked into an alley. Annabeth and I broke into a sprint and rounded the corner just in time to see him open a door and go inside one of the buildings.

Annabeth checked the sign out front. "This is some sort of mechanics shop," she said.

"Makes sense." I crept down the alley, quietly pushing the door inwards. I poked my head in and looked around.

The place did look like a mechanics workshop, only merged with a forge, because there was the massive kiln. Annabeth looked in around me and we waited.

The Cyclops set down his takeout and picked up an envelope on the table. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. The Cyclops grumbled something, opening it, reading it, and then slamming it down in disgust.

"Damn them," he grumbled. "Sendin' me more orders, figurin' I'll just do 'em." He jerked something the glowed out of the kiln and slammed it on an iron, smashing at it loudly with a massive hammer. "You'd think they'd do the grunt work themselves, holed up in them mountains the way they are."

I went tense as the Cyclops stopped hammering and stuffed the object back in the kiln. "They got the gods know what in there, plannin' and schemin' and plottin' and gettin' the glory. Damn them, thinkin' I'm gonna keep doin' this." He gave a wild laugh. "Bet they don't know I know their main plan backfired. Who'd of thought they'd get themselves a jailbreak." He gave another laugh and pulled out the item, once again hammering away.

Annabeth slipped away and after a second I followed her, closing the door as quietly as I could. We hurried out onto the street.

"I think we found their weapons supplier," I said.

"Mm," Annabeth mused. "It sounds like he could give us some information. After that, we'll have to kill him. Do you think we should –"

"Wait," I said. "We should get Cora and Hunter first."

Annabeth blinked. "What?"

"You heard him, Annabeth. He mentioned a jailbreak – that has to be about Cora. Whatever he has to say, she'll want to hear it firsthand. It'd be wrong not to let her. We know where this guy is, it won't take long to go back and get them."

At that moment Annabeth's stomach rumbled. "And to get something to eat. I see your point."

A few minutes later we were walking back into our hotel room, after taking a brief detour to pick up the takeout. The first thing that hit me was the _smell. _It reminded me of monsters, expect a certain rot-like scent.

I wrinkled my nose. "What on earth is that?"

"The food," came Cora's voice, sounding a little on the raspy side. "It started stinking like crazy."

"Why didn't you get rid of it? This is just re-enforcing the hellhound-poop theory," I commented.

"We've been trying to figure out how to burn it without setting off the smoke alarms."

"Oh." I looked down at Cora and Hunter. They were both sitting on a bed; Cora's face still looking a little green. "How are you feeling?"

She made a face. "My stomach's still queasy. I'm just lucky it ran out of things to throw up."

"Maybe this'll help," Annabeth said, pulling out a container and offering it to Cora. "There's ginger in it, so it'll help your stomach."

"Thanks." A flicker of a smile crossed her face. She raised an eyebrow at the contents but didn't comment. Annabeth and I set out the other takeout containers. After ditching the monster food out the window (we threw it in the nearest alleyway, and we hardly missed).

"We'd better eat fast," I said as I dug in.

"Why?" Cora asked.

"'Cause. We've got a new lead about what's happened."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Uh-huh," Annabeth was eying a piece of meat. "If we take too long, they might leave."

Cora frowned. "Who's 'they'?"

"It's a metal smith or something. A Cyclops," I explained. "And this one, you get to beat up."

**A/N: I love how Cora and Hunter try to think of a way to get rid of the food discreetly, while Percy just chucks it. What do you think? What does the dream mean? And what is it with the nutcases (yes, I call them the evil nutcases) and their labour? Next chapter – when it comes – will be awesome. There's some kick-ass Cora in it. I think you guys'll enjoy it. Until my next update – review, add to favs or alerts, and let me know your thought! Feedback means better stories!  
(Oh, yeah, for all of you rooting for Cora and Hunter . . . you'll get something quite nice in either three chapters or five! – to be determined)**


	42. World Famous

The Lost Goddess

**A/N: I honestly JUST finished this. Sorry for the delay. I've been working on my own novel (so close to the reveal ... so close!). Anyways, I finished this and I love the chapter. In my opinion, it shows Cora really returning to herself. So enjoy!**

Cora: World Famous

I crouched down in the alleyway, poking my head in through the crack in the doorway. I watched the Cyclops as he worked around the forge. It was a good cover, I had to admit. It also meant this Cyclops was close to _them. _

I jumped when a hand touched my shoulder. It was Hunter. He looked concerned. I realized I'd been clenching my hands. He tugged on me gently and I withdrew from the doorway to join Percy and Annabeth.

Percy gave me a worried looked and he and Annabeth started talking. I translated quietly for Hunter, but I wasn't really paying attention. I kept glancing over my shoulder at the door. I couldn't focus. To think, that this Cyclops was _working _for them . . . that he might have information . . . that he could explain why they took me . . . to think, that their weak link was a _Cyclops. _

Before I knew what I was doing I said, "Wait here," and was stalking off to the door.

"No, Cora –" But it was too late, because I was slipping inside the building.

I pushed my back against the wall and inched behind a support pillar. It was hot in here, sweat already trickling down the side of my face. I took deep, slow breaths, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Edging sideways I looked around for the Cyclops.

_Don't focus directly, watch in your peripheral, scan for the easiest path, check liabilities, figure out assets . . . _I wasn't sure if those were my thoughts, or if they were the voice.

I twisted my head, watching the Cyclops while taking in the workshop. The Cyclops was huge, much larger than a person. I'd have to get it right to take him down. He suddenly jerked his head up, sniffing loudly.

"I smell something . . ." he growled.

With a slight gasp as he turned around I dropped to the ground behind the pillar. After a quick glance I snatched a silver nugget off a table and tossed it to the other side of the room. It landed with a clang. The Cyclops was after the sound in an instant.

I crept forward, partly crouched, keeping under what I could till I was behind him. The Cyclops was sniffing, holding a pole like a bat.

Before I could possibly have second thoughts I pushed myself forward, slamming my right shoulder into his knees while my left hand expertly caused his ankle to fail.

The Cyclops crashed to the ground. With a curse he swung the pole. I hardly registered what I was doing as I caught the pole in my hands, snapping a foot up to jam his wrist. There was an audible sound of something breaking.

The pole was in my hands now, and I thrust it hard at his stomach as the Cyclops tried to rise. He deflected it with one hand, and I let it go off, spinning. I sprung to my feet, the Cyclops lumbering up unevenly.

I feinted to the right, the Cyclops throwing his weight to much to that side. Quickly I was darting to the other side, reaching up to pinch the nerve ending in the shoulder. He bellowed in pain as a slight move found him on the ground, his arm twisted awkwardly against his back as I applied steady pressure against the broken wrist.

The Cyclops was yelling, and I was screaming something back, but I'm not sure what.

Someone place a hand on my back, and I jumped, everything suddenly rushing back into real time. I blinked and looked up. Percy, Annabeth, and Hunter were staring at me. Oh dear gods . . . what had I just done?

I shakily got to my feet, Percy stepping forward with Riptide uncapped, and moved back. Hunter's hand was still against my back. I covered my face with my hands.

"What happened?" I whispered. "Did – Did I just -?" Hunter removed his hand.

"Cora, it's okay," he said gently. "You just got upset and carried away, it could happen to anyone."

I lowered my hands and gripped my arms, staring numbly at the clear injuries I'd caused. For a minute I was stuck staring in a detached sort of way. I couldn't believe I'd done that. Taking in a breath, I looked up at Hunter. He only looked worried for _me, _not scared like I would have thought. After all, I'd taken down a Cyclops without harm to myself.

"I can't believe I just did that," I breathed. For a moment I thought Hunter was going to hug me, and I found myself hoping he would. The moment was ruined by convulsions from the Cyclops.

Nervously I moved closer. "Cora, you didn't try to kill him, right?" Percy asked me, the point of Riptide never wavering.

"No," I said quietly. "I just hurt him. Nothing's life-threatening, except your sword to his throat."

"Well, that's a relief," Percy said, his expression steely calm. "Now maybe you'll answer questions." But the Cyclops wasn't focused on Percy, he was looking at me.

"I know you," the Cyclops said.

"Yeah," Percy snapped. "Your bosses kidnapped her."

That caught the Cyclops off guard. "_She's _the jailbreak? Well . . . I suppose that makes sense."

All of us frowned. "How do you know her?" Annabeth demanded.

"Anyone of us who worked in the forges a couple years ago know our dad's daughter," the Cyclops replied, rather calm for all the wary looks. "I recognize the smell."

We were frozen for a minute. Finally Percy said, "So your father's Poseidon too, then. Mind explaining how you know my – er – our sister?"

"Why don't you ask her?"

Percy and Annabeth shared a glance. "We don't answer question from people working for our enemies," Annabeth said.

Hunter nudged me. "What's going on? You look panicked."

I hastily explained everything to him. "I don't understand how people keep knowing me," I added.

"What do you mean?"

"Well . . ." I shifted. "First Nico di Angelo, then the spirit of the Hudson, then – then those who took me, now this guy . . . I don't like it."

Hunter opened his mouth but we whirled around when the Cyclops started yelling in response to whatever Percy and Annabeth had been saying.

"I had no choice, ya here me? No choice!" he bellowed. "They forced me! Ya think I want to be working for a pile of underground crazies who –"

"Save it!" Percy snapped. "You really think we're going to –"

"Percy," I said, stepping forward and placing a hand on his arm. "Stop. I believe him."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Why would you believe him?"

"I just do," I replied. "Put your sword away." Percy grumbled but did what I asked. Taking a deep breath a knelt down next to the Cyclops, who was watching me in amazement. "I'm sorry for attacking you," I said. "I thought you were an enemy."

"Cora . . ."

"Thank you, and I don't blame you," the Cyclops said. "I would have done the same to myself. You seem to have more forgiveness than our brother."

Percy snorted. "You haven't seen her –" I elbowed Percy in the kneecap. "Ow!"

"Stop being a baby, it doesn't hurt," I told him.

* * *

A few minutes later we were all sitting wherever we could find purchase while the Cyclops was wrapping up his wounds. I tried not to show how pleased I was that Hunter was next to me, for translation purposes. Part of me was wondering what was suddenly wrong with me.

"Do you want somethin' to eat?" the Cyclops asked, wrapping his wrist as he jutted his chin to a takeout container.

"No thanks, we already ate," Annabeth said. "That's actually how we spotted you, from the takeout shop."

"Ah," he nodded. "That explains things. At first I just thought they were roasting something, but I'm thinkin' now it was you. Stupid on my part." He cleared his throat. "My name's Rider, by the way. I'll try to help ya all out, but I'm afraid I don't know too much."

"That's okay," Percy said. "Anything's helpful."

"What do you know about me?" I asked. "I don't know anything before I woke up in June. It's a mystery to me."

"The gods steal 'em, huh?"

"Something like that," I muttered.

Rider thought for a moment. "I don't wanna run the risk of getting on the bad side of the gods, but seein' as I don't know too much, I guess it can't hurt." I leant forward eagerly. Finally, someone willing to tell me something!

"Now, you need to understand that I've never actually met you. Most of it is rumors, or if I overheard something."

"Eavesdropper," Percy mumbled. I cast him a glare.

"See, if anyone has worked in the forges for the past year – maybe two, we're bound to have heard of ya," Rider continued, ignoring Percy. "It's just been a couple of tales, mostly. Our dad, he usually has sons, and apparently you're the first daughter in a while. Favoured child and all that – none of us really blame you, he always likes his demigod children more than us.

"Been talk about how you're gifted, and all that. Nobody's really sure of all these details, see, but you got special treatment or somethin'. Dunno what exactly. Dad took an interest, I guess. Helped ya out. Met a seer once, told me a half sibling would give Olympus a hand. Probably you, seeing as Percy here's done his part. 'Fraid I don't know much more."

"Oh," I said, after a moment. "That's okay . . . at least – at least I know something. I never realized Dad payed that much attention. Maybe he's the one who gave me my weapons, or something."

"That does happen with Big Three children," Annabeth commented. "Their parents usually do give them something."

"Okay," Percy said. "So Dad knew about Cora, and kept her secret for a while. I can understand that. I don't suppose you know anything about the memory loss?"

Rider shook his head. "Nope. I can't picture Dad doin' that willingly to one of his kids. Must be some reason I don't know about."

I tried to hide my disappointment. It was nice to know my dad cared, but I wanted to know why my memory had been stolen. There wasn't any sort of obvious reason. I forced some degree of cheerfulness into my voice. "It's fine. I don't suppose you know anything about . . . them?"

The Cyclops scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Specifics? Naw, they wouldn't trust a blacksmith with info like that. I know some of what they plan, seein' as I've built half of what they need."

"If they have a plan, and you're building stuff, why did they kidnap Cora?" Percy demanded. "What use could they possibly have for her?"

"Power source," Rider said. "What I build for them needs an awfully large power source. Maybe she's able. Or . . ."

"Or what?" Annabeth asked.

I stopped listening. I didn't want to know what the 'or' reason was. I had a bad feeling; my skin tingled and pain jolted around behind my eyes. _A power source, or . . . _I had a sick feeling it would have been _or a key. _That was absurd. Absolute nonsense.

_Holds great power to the key, _said the little voice in my mind.

_Shut up! _I thought, squeezing my eyes shut and shaking my head. _No power, no keys! No, no, NO! _

"Cora?"

I opened my eyes and looked over. Hunter was watching me worriedly.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Sorry, I guess I – I should translate." I hastily told him what had been exchanged, adding in the small snippets I heard from Percy, Annabeth, and Rider.

He didn't say anything afterwards. I noticed he looked a little pale, and there were moments when he seemed off. I frowned at him.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He looked startled. "You're asking me that?"

I gave him a flat look, arcing an eyebrow. "How's your arm?"

"Uh, it's okay." He purposefully didn't look at me. Before he had a chance to react I'd pushed the sleeve of his tee-shirt up. The bandage on his arm was soaked in blood. I stared, horrified. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Good gods," I hissed at him. "How long has it been like this? Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't want to worry you," he told me.

"Bit late for that." I looked around the shop and snatched up bandages Rider hadn't used. He was arguing with Percy and Annabeth about some point; I didn't really want to know. "Here, let me help."

For a moment I thought Hunter wanted argue, then he nodded. "Thanks," he said, "I suppose I haven't been doing a very good job on my own."

"You should've asked, dummy," I said.

Hunter flushed. "You felt guilty enough, pointing it out would've made you feel worse."

I finished tying off the new bandage. "As sweet as that is," I said with a slight smile, "don't ever do that again. I'd rather feel guilty than see something seriously wrong with you. 'K?"

He smiled. "I got it."

"What do you mean, _two_ days?" Percy swore explosively. I looked over in surprise. Both he and Annabeth had worried expressions on their faces, bordering on panic.

"Well, they said full moon, and that's in two days," Rider said, a lot calmer. "All I know is _something _will be happening – uh, _routing of the usurers of disgrace. _I think that's what they said . . . not sure what it means, but I bet it ain't good 'cause nothing they do is good."

"So they want you to finish building some part, before two days," Annabeth said, "to use in some sort of evil whatever, only you don't know anything? And last you heard was that they need a – a controller?"

"I think it's suppose to be a person," Rider added, unhelpfully. "But yeah, that's about it. And they wanted me to deliver it to . . . the Weaver's Needle. Yeah, that was it. Take it over Flat Iron Peak to the Weaver's Needle. I was supposed to do that, when done."

"You're not really going to do it, right?" Percy asked. "You're not going to make this thing and – and just give it to them."

Rider shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to, not a bit. But I gotta. That's the problem . . . you don't know what happens, if I disobey or if I lie."

"You could say I attacked you," I suggested in a small voice. "That's not a lie. It's just . . . twisting the truth."

"And instead of getting what they need, they'll get four very deadly demigods," Percy said. He looked at me and grinned. "How do you feel about beating up those men and showing them what it means to mess with you?"

I smiled. "I say, they'll regret it for the rest of their short, miserable lives."

**A/N: What do you think? Cora's gotten back to her usual, awesome self.  
What are the evils planning? What do they want? What will happen? Heh, **_**I **_**know but you don't! Stay tuned! A chapter you fans of Cora/Hunter will love is coming up very soon! Meanwhile, tell me what you think through reviews and favs and alerts  
(Hey ... why are their pages numbers in this word document? It's new! What did I do? *panics*)(Did I use "usurers" right? I don't think so ...)  
**

7


	43. We Play Stones

**A/N: Finished, because the House of Hades inspired me. Owned it for 24hrs and 30mins. Read it in roughly 7hrs and 15mins. Yup. It was great. Won't spoil it for those who haven't read it. So with this chapter finally done . . . everything else is planned out in my head. Now to write it. I should be finished before NaNo.**

Percy: We Play Stones

We had a game plan. Okay, half a game plan. You know, I wouldn't really call it a _plan – _more like an idea of what we were going to do. There was no way to know what we'd be up against, so it was going to be made up as we went along.

Once we were sure there was no other information to be gained, we bid good-bye to Rider and headed back to our hotel rooms. The next day we'd be leaving Phoenix to set out for the Weaver's Needle.

I was not looking forward to a mountain climbing trip. It involved us going to Flat Iron (which was a tourist spot) and then climbing up to the Weaver's Needle. The day after we had to make it to the peak of Battleship Mountain.

Annabeth and I bought supplies to replenish our stores, and then all four of us crashed in the hotel. We tried to get Cora to talk about what these Darkest Dawn people might have in the mountains, but she clammed up pretty fast.

The next day we took the first bus out of Phoenix to the park at the base of Flat Iron. The park was free, which meant no security, and it didn't take us long to find the hiking trail leading partway up Flat Iron.

Half the morning was spent on the trail, and then it was actual rock climbing. The cliff faces were sheer and crumbly, but they didn't fall apart as bad as the climbing wall at camp, so it wasn't too bad.

We reached the top about mid-afternoon. There was a surprise waiting for us.

The four of us finished heaving ourselves over the top when the ground buckled and rolled. Gravel and stones tossed around us wildly, a horrible grinding sound deafening us. I clutched at whatever seemed stable, only to have it ripped from my grasp.

As abruptly as it had started, it stopped. The ground went still, leaving us lying in heaps. I coughed and looked up. For a brief second, it looked like the ground had warped into the shape of a face.

I had a freak out moment, thinking of Gaea. Then I realized it was just my imagination.

What was _not _my imagination, was the wizened old man sitting at a stone table, with some sort of board game set up in front of him.

I looked at the others and got to my feet. The man's skin was the colour of grey rock, matching his Roman style robe. His hair was wild, and looked like snow on a mountain top. I uncapped Riptide.

"Please tell me this isn't one of Gaea's leftover minions," I said, pointing at the old man with Riptide.

"No," Cora said, getting to her feet. "He's the spirit of the mountain."

The old man smiled at her. "Right you are," he said. "You're still a sharp one, even with that block."

Cora stared at him blankly. "Uh . . . have we met?"

"No, no. But do you think that after millennia I can't recognize the feel of demigods? Or monsters? You're a powerful one, you are, and I've been able to tell where you are ever since you came to my range, even when you're in Phoenix."

"Why am I not dead already?" she complained. It actually was a fair question.

The mountain spirit man laughed, kind of like a nice grandfather (which I never had). "While I don't know much about you, if you were to ever give your all in a fight, I would fear for your enemy!"

Cora flushed. "Thank you?"

"Now," the spirit man clapped his hands. "Shall we get on to the bargaining of your passage?"

"Bargaining of what passage?" Annabeth asked.

"I like to be helpful," he said, smiling benevolently. "But I never do anything for free – small thing really. In the end, your current course won't get you to your destination early enough. I will provide passage so you can reach there by noon tomorrow." He gestured to the board in front of him. "All you have to do is beat me. You may work together."

I looked at the board. "What sort of game is this?" There were a bunch of pieces, and the layout made no sense. I was at a loss.

"Stones," Cora said. "It's . . . it's called Stones, right?" The spirit man nodded.

Annabeth frowned. "Isn't that a made-up game in _The Wheel of Time _by Robert Jordan?" I looked at her, wondering how she knew that. "He was a demigod."

Cora's face was scrunched up tight. "It was based off this game. The real one . . . it's like a combination of Chinese checkers and senet – both strategy and luck. I think . . . I think I remember how to play it."

All of us except the mountain spirit looked at her in surprise. "You do?" I asked her.

"Yes, I would play it with . . . oh, no, it's gone now," she made a frustrated sound. "I _hate _this not knowing!" I wanted to tell her she'd remember, though, quite frankly, at this point even I was starting to get skeptical, and she brushed off anything said to her.

The spirit man clapped his hands. "Don't worry yourself – hardly worth your troubles now – the Darkest Dawn should be your main priority – hate those miserable, unhuman necromancers – can't do a thing about it. That's why I want to help you!" He gestured to the board. "Shall we play?"

Cora looked at us before reluctantly sitting down. She gave us brief instructions for the game in rapid-fire French-English, to the point where my head spun. She must've been stressed if she switched languages.

And then she began to play.

I didn't understand almost all of it. To me, it seemed like Cora was actually quite good. Annabeth would give her strategic pointers whenever her memory seemed to fail. Some turns required tossing missing pieces back on the board, and that fell to me, because apparently I managed to drop them in good spots.

An hour passed. Different colour pieces were lined up in the centre of the board. I could almost see a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her face. Cora glanced at us nervously, biting her lip as she stared at the board.

"I don't . . ." she was at a loss, yanking in frustration on a thick blue strand of hair.

The spirit man smiled at her, only it wasn't quite as friendly as before. "If you're having trouble," he said, "How about we change the game a little, to make you take some different choices?"

"Whoa, hold up," I said quickly, not liking the sound of that at all. Cora had hardly opened her mouth before the game table was sinking back into the ground. The next thing I knew I was sliding down cold stone.

I hit something hard and came to a stop. I blinked and looked around, getting to my feet shakily. Around me the ground was some sort of patchwork. I saw Cora and Annabeth and Hunter getting to their feet in various places, all in specific spots on the patchwork. There were giant boulders also set in spots, some in reddish rock and some in grey.

Well, that was bizarre. Based upon past experience, things were probably booby-trapped. I stepped over to the edge of my spot. Sure enough, when I tried to step over it, the ground around me disappeared. Suddenly I was staring at a very long drop. I stepped back.

"Okay, nobody move unless their suicidal!" I called out to the others.

"I think we have bigger problems," Annabeth hollered back. "We're _part _of the game."

I looked around and realized everything was set up like the board had been. Cora was yelling some curses about mountain spirits in a few different languages. I was tempted to join her.

"Very good, daughter of Athena," boomed a voice. A twenty-foot tall version of the mountain spirit appeared at equal distance from the four of us. "We will finish the game like this, with the four of you taking the places of four pieces."

"Um, how is this any different from the game before?" I asked, raising my hand. "I mean, it's just . . . bigger."

The spirit smiled at me. "There is a catch, Percy Jackson. If you finish as a piece, you will never leave this mountain. This will become your home. Eternally."

Definitely got the family resemblance to Gaea and the evil _ourae _in Greece. I wanted to kill this guy.

In the next thirty seconds, I leaned something about Cora. You should never put the fate of the world on her shoulders, make her play a half-remember game due to a time limit, and then threaten her friends. She's not good with that kind of stress.

There was a very nasty curse spat, and then one of Cora's speciality golden domes appeared around the mountain spirits. Only, where all the others had been benevolent, protective, the one was malevolent. It began to creep inwards, as if intent on squeezing. The spirit flickered, as if he wanted to vanish, but couldn't.

"I can deal with playing a game, but not when that game puts fates at risk," she growled.

Annabeth and I exchanged nervous looks. I hated it when Cora got like this.

"Cora," I said loudly and clearly. "It's okay. You're smart, you know this game, go ahead and play. Win us that passage. We'll be fine. Don't get angry at the creep."

The mountain spirit frowned at me. "I can hear you, Percy Jackson."

I ignored him. My words had the intended effect, calming Cora – or distracting her – just enough that the energy dome vanished.

Cora took a deep breath. "Then I guess, we'll keep playing." And the boulder pieces began to move.

It was going great until the boulder nearly crushed me.

I didn't notice the shadow falling over me until almost too late. Instinctively I rolled to the side, uncapping Riptide and slashing at the rock as I came up. The rock split in half, revealing two hollow pieces, and an angry earthborn inside.

_You've got to be kidding me,_ I thought, dodging the earthborn's first attack and slicing off three of its arms. A kick in the back dissolved it into a pile of mud.

Helpful mountain spirit, not so helpful. He seemed very intent on killing us. I glared at where his form shimmered. He didn't seem very happy with me either.

"You cheated," he accused.

"You're the one who tried to kill me with a giant rock and earthborn," I shot back. "I'm not into dying." I thought he'd sink me right then and there, but he didn't.

Now it was Cora's turn. She looked around the hillside critically. A bit of a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Hunter," she said, "Déplacer les deux places avant." He complied. Cora looked at the field again, and then grinned at the mountain spirit. "We win."

The ground bucked and rolled again, and when I stopped rolling I was covered in dust and back on the normal top of Flat Iron. I got up and grabbed the collar of the mountain spirit.

"No more funny business," I said. "Give us the passage you promised, no tricks, and I won't kill you."

Nobody got mad at me, which showed just how annoyed we all were.

"Okay, okay, just had to test you," the spirit said, less calmly than the words intended. "You've passed – knew you would. So now I'll let you through. I want those awful necromancers gone as much as you do. Had to make sure you were good enough to defeat them, of course."

He snapped his fingers. An opening in the ground appeared a few feet away. "It'll deposit you as far as possible at dusk. Hope you brought lights, though. Latest you'll be at the place is tomorrow afternoon. Just in time to stop them."

I let the mountain spirit go. He vanished in an instant. I capped Riptide and looked at the others. Annabeth pulled out a flashlight. I looked at the younger two. Hunter seemed, well, confused like usual. Cora seemed perfectly calm and nice. She was back to her usual self. Together the four of us headed down the stairs and into the tunnels.

**A/N: Did you like it? I needed filler, and I felt like showing some of Cora's temper. Stones actually is a game from **_**The Wheel of Time **_**series. I read them. Quite good, if very long. Only on book five, still, but I do like them very much. So the next chapter . . . *grins* I think you fans will like the events in it very, very much. I've been dying to write it for so long . . . at last! Let me know what you thought of this chapter via either reviews or favs or alerts! See you soon!**


	44. Firelight, Moonlight, Soul Light

**A/N: I totally meant to update, like, last week, but I got Pokémon X and I only just got off my long week of obsessive playing (reached Victory Road, so that's good enough for now). Anyways. I'm updating. I need something normal (playing on a strange DS, getting randomly kicked by a horse – **_**not my fault **_**– getting a new hair cut – lost two inches, sadly – and new glasses. It's been a weird week). So. The chapter many of you have been wanting. Enjoy!  
No author's note after, so review this, please! Or just fav and alert, but I think you'll want to review.**

Cora: Firelight, Moonlight, Soul Light

We climbed out of the tunnel and onto the top of the Weaver's Needle just as the sky was turning purple in one direction and orange in the other. The moment we were all out the hole in the ground vanished, as if it had never been.

The four of us moved away, going as far as we could before it became too risky in the half-light. I didn't know about the others, but I was seriously on edge. With all the people and creatures trying to manipulate me and the aura that acted like a warning flare . . . I was honestly amazed I still had all my limbs attached.

We made our camp for the night in a place that was kind of partly hidden by some larger more upright rocks. We, oddly, found usable dry pieces of wood scattered around, which made me think that maybe the crazy old _ourae _didn't really want us dead.

We lit the fire and ate dinner and discussed where we were going the next day and what we would do when we arrived at the ceremony or whatever the Darkest Dawn were having. Percy and Annabeth tried to get me to say what it could be, so I refused to speak. Honestly, I had no idea.

And then it was too dark for anything and time to sleep. I volunteered for first watch. Percy, obviously, disagreed. It took a while but I wore him down – actually more like I ignored him . . . same thing in the end.

Percy dropped off to sleep within a few minutes, the crackling of the fire masking that weird snore he sometimes has. Annabeth continued scratching in the dirt until it was all blurred and a there was a rather big dirt pile. She muttered something in frustration and lay down next to Percy.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, staring into the fire. It reminded me a bit of my hair, except there was no blue like the sea in those flames.

I thought Hunter would go to sleep. He didn't. Instead he sat beside me, not saying a word. I thought he was taking everything very calmly, having to rely solely on my hasty translations.

Odd emotions rolled inside me. Something had changed, that I knew, and yet I didn't know what. I wanted to know. And tomorrow . . . tomorrow this quest might be over or merely starting . . . it all depended . . . and we – I – had to battle the Darkest Dawn . . . them with their lies and deceit and ways that made my blood run cold.

I shivered. I was facing the unknown. Worse, I was facing the unknown involving _them. _The people who had managed to capture me. The people who were evil. Whose name which . . . who . . . who . . .

Something – some wild animal – screamed out there in the night. I jerked upright, looking around wildly as my heart pounded and breathing grew fast. Nothing. It was nothing. And yet – and yet –

"Cora?" His voice was very soft. "Are you all right?"

My gaze flicked between Hunter and the unknown darkness. He looked so worried, and – and out there . . .

"I'm scared," I blurted out, shocked that I had actually said those words, but I couldn't stop. "Oh gods, Hunter, I'm scared." I turned back to the fire and curled into a tight ball. "Those men are evil and terrifying and . . . and all I want to do is run away but I can't. They – they could do anything and – and – I'm scared."

Hunter moved closer, placing a hand, very gently, on my shoulder. "Everyone feels scared. You'll be fine."

"Not me," I managed. "I never really did. Those men . . . how they make me feel . . ." I felt tears brimming up behind my eyes. "When I think about them . . . I – I can't think straight. I get petrified and then I'm useless . . . Hunter, I'm _scared._"

He didn't say or do anything I noticed, but he must of because my heart calmed and the panic closing in on my mind receded a little.

I took a deep breath. "There's more," I said in a small voice. "Something you should know, just in case . . . I just want someone to know, so I don't go crazy." I hesitated, unsure if I should really be doing this.

"You can tell me, Cora," Hunter said. "It doesn't matter what it is, I'll still . . . you can tell me."

I gave a slight nod, never letting my eyes stray from the fire. Hunter moved away a little. "There's . . . this voice," I told him, my voice fumbling over the words, "in my head. Except it's not me, it's some – some goddess or something, contacting me. She comes sometimes, with advice, and usually it's not helpful. I've been hearing her ever since I woke up at Half-Blood Hill. This whole time I've had a voice in my head, and I hate it."

Silence fell. Hunter was probably thinking me a nut job and regretting ever becoming my friend. More time passed.

"I'm sorry," I said miserably. "I'm sorry I –"

"Cora stop." I fell silent and looked at Hunter. His tone was different from anything I'd heard before. "You just told me two things that I know you would never tell anyone else and I'm – I guess you say honored, in a way, that you trust me that much." He took a breath. "Now it's my turn. There's something I need to tell you."

He fidgeted where he sat, uncomfortable.

I twisted to face him completely. "What? Hunter, what is it?"

"Do you remember," he said, his voice very quiet, "what I said when I saw your Soul Key?"

I blinked, trying to think back to that event. "I don't . . ." My tongue fell silent as Hunter reached very carefully under his shirt and pulled out a long gold chain at the end of which hung a circular pendent.

For a moment I couldn't breathe. It was just like mine, except his was full of engravings. Dealings with his past. He had a Soul Key; something that only belonged to great heroes and godlings. What did that make him? What did that make me?

Instinctively I reached out to touch it, drawing back when I remembered how it hurt when he touched mine. With the softest of expressions and sweetest of smiles, Hunter took my hand, placed his pendent in my palm, and closed my fingers around it.

I was shocked. I looked into his eyes, his odd speckled eyes, and something changed in me. I reached under my shirt and took out my own Soul Key. It was still bare, save for something just beginning to get engraved. I didn't know what.

Looking back up at Hunter, I slipped my own pendent into his hand, holding it closed with my own.

The most wonderful feeling washed over me. Better than eating Ambrosia and Nectar, better than the best thing anyone could ever think of. I felt like I was full of warmth and happiness, like I could do anything and everything, like everything was perfect in the world and would never be wrong again. I didn't want this to end.

At some point, though, our hands let go of each other's Soul Key of their own accord. The feeling drained out of me. I felt a little empty, though much better than I had before. I suddenly couldn't meet Hunter's eyes, too nervous to discover what I'd see there.

After a minute or two, I said, rather breathlessly, "We should probably get some sleep."

"Mm." Hunter fiddled with something in his hands. "But before we do . . . you've given me two secrets, and I've only given you one."

"Oh, Hunter, don't be silly –"

"Please."

I closed my mouth and waited for him to continue.

"Good. Now close your eyes."

I looked at him suspiciously. A smile pulled at him mouth. "I thought you trusted me."

There was no arguing there. I made some sort of sound in response and closed my eyes, waiting patiently and wondering.

The next thing I knew Hunter's lips were touching mine.

My eyes flew open for a split second only to flutter shut again. It was hard to fight every urge that rose up. Hunter was _kissing _me. Hunter was kissing _me! _It was the best thing in my life, and I never wanted it to end.

He drew back and ended it, at some point. I wanted him to keep going. It took me a moment to open my eyes and look at him. He had a beautiful expression on, with his eyes unguarded, and I couldn't make myself look away. He brushed back a lock of my hair and tucked it behind my ear, fingers trailing along my cheek and lingering there.

And then he smile, turned away from me, and lay down. I didn't move. To stunned and happy to do anything.

I'm not sure how long I sat there. Eventually I lay down, my heart beating an odd rhythm, and closed my eyes to fall asleep to good dreams.


	45. I Meet the Darkest Dawn, and All Their S

**A/N: Hello! Long time no see - was a bit busy with NaNo (I won!) and I'm still working on that novel, plus the first of a series I'm writing with a friend. Very busy. My reason for updating? Well, I felt bad about leaving you all for so long, and . . . I have an ebook! That's right, I have an ebook available for purchase on Kobo. It's three short stories for three dollars. It'd be wonderful if anyone got it and liked it. Thought I'd let you all know. It's "Journeys Home & Other Strange Things" by Fainne J. Firmin.  
That's all, go read this chapter.**

Percy: I Meet the Darkest Dawn, and All Their Soul-Destroying Powers

I had a dream that night, and while a lot of it didn't make sense and blurred together, it was pretty bad. Like, all the gods yelling and making threats at me bad.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't get scared easily. I've faced down monsters and gods and primadorial forces so by now dreams are pretty-second rate unless they show friends currently dying. This, though, was a nasty dream.

I was running underground, through tunnels of brown stone with strange closed doorways on either side and multi-coloured crystals shimmering above me. A heavy, thick white mist coiled around me as I ran. Voices hissed in my head.

_Death . . . death to them . . . protect the daughter . . . no, no let her forage ahead! . . . too strong, too strong . . . not strong enough, weak . . . powerful . . . nothing . . . protect the daughter . . . leave her . . . protect – leave – protect – leave – protect, protect – leave – ENOUGH!_

I jerked to a stop as if I'd run into a brick wall. The mist swirled around my body in a way that was awfully familiar. I looked to my left and saw one of the doors open slightly. I pushed inside as the voices hissed again, _you've no power here . . . keep an eye on . . . ancient . . . oh, so ancient . . . heed my words . . ._

There was a vast cavern on this side, the ceiling rising up to be lost in the glitter of gems. The floor turned into a big, gaping hole, with bars of Celestial bronze, Imperial gold, and Tempest silver criss-crossing it, like bars on a prison cell. I was put in the mind of an entrance to Tartarus, except this had a different feel.

The voices grew louder, less coherent, and the mist grew thicker. Something roared from in the pit. A call so loud the cavern shook. Many small red eyes flashed beneath the bars, a dark shadow slamming into the edges of it cage. The cavern began to collapse around me.

I woke up. It was day. Annabeth was awake and munching on breakfast. She gave me a concerned look. I guess I looked pretty shaken. "Don't mention this to the other two, but if we end up facing a ginormous evil monsters, I can strangle the Fates, right?"

Annabeth sighed. "Is a nice, decently quiet life really too much to ask for?"

"Apparently, yes."

* * *

As the four of us hiked around the top of Weaver's Needle and towards Battleship Mountain (I'm starting to see why evil chose this place) there was something subtly . . . different about our group. Just the smallest shift in how things were, something I couldn't put my finger on.

I found myself watching Cora a fair bit, because we were going to confront a group of people who were, well, _her _enemy, you could say. The only problem was, not everything added up.

They needed Cora, yet they were still going ahead with this ritual either way. They might have been betting a lot on the belief she'd show up, except they didn't have a devious enough mind for certainty. Then what exactly were they up to? And what was that thing in the pit?

Cora glanced at Hunter, a little smile on her face. That was good. Weird, but good. Still, the bad feeling wouldn't go away. The four of us kept walking.

* * *

We knew we found the right place, because there was a tall thin man with a conical hat and weird robes and a missing nose and a hand that looked mutilated standing above us.

It was at a choke point in the mountains, a narrow place with sheer drops on either side. The necromancer stood at the top, a level above us. The rocky ground looked kind of like really steeps steps, sloping up to where he stood.

The man was smiling at us.

"You came," he said, voice heavy and thick and cold. "As I knew you would. Now, our time is at hand." Cora opened her mouth to say something. He spoke over her, "You claim to come to stop us, yet do you not want the power to chose your own destinies? Do you not want to know your past, _daughter of Poseidon? _We offer you much, yet you spit it back in our faces."

"Pretty ugly faces," I said.

He fixed his dead eyes on me. "Oh yes, Percy Jackson, very ugly indeed. Would you like to see the truth?" He must of released whatever Mist he'd been using, because he suddenly looked like a corpse. That brought back way to many back memories.

"You're necromancers who look like the walking dead, big deal," Cora snapped. I heard the slightest quiver in her voice.

"You want more of a challenge?" His gaze swivelled to Cora. "Then I will oblige." He thrust a hand out to the side. "Rise, my pet, the time of your triumph is now!"

Something called, a sound so loud and deep the ground shook. I heard the slow, heavy flaps of massive wings. And then _it _rose from behind the cliff.

A monster the size of a blimp, with reptilian skin the colour of dried blood, more serpentine heads than I could count, taloned feet and fingers and the body of a dragon, wings fit to block out the sun, and glowing red eyes on every snake like head.

It was the monster from the pit.

For a moment, I was paralyzed, this thing was huge, something meant to fight the gods themselves, not us.

The necromancer laughed. "Do you like it? We created it ourselves – an amalgamation of dead bodies and souls. The result of centuries of work. And when this creatures has its full power and rises on Olympus, it will snuff out the very sun. It will make the darkest dawn."

Without thinking, I drew Riptide, and Annabeth drew her knife. The necromancer laughed again. "By all means, challenge it. When it kills you your life force will join it." He stared at Cora, hungrily. "What about you, little heroine? Will you fight? Or is your heart beating too loudly? Are you too _scared _to draw your weapon? Or perhaps, you are waiting for helpful advice from the goddess in your head? Well?"

I looked at Cora, wondering what he meant. She looked like someone had hit her in the face and ripped out her heart. She looked completely and utterly heartbroken.


End file.
